I teach my children the difference
between a reaction and a response.
One is raw with feeling.
The other calculated, cold.
*
Another child walks into a school
with a gun.
We’ve heard it a hundred times
before. We know the punchline,
we have it memorized, we have
our response down—thoughts
& prayers.
The only shift is proximity.
*
I think about the exact moment
the soul leaves the body,
wonder if it lingers in aftermath,
or flushes at impact.
When the number of casualties
is reported & there isn’t so much
as a collective flinch,
I realize that moment has passed.
READ MORE
Another school shooting. ‘Ho hum,’ says America [Los Angeles Times]
School Shooting in Kentucky was Nation’s 11th of Year. It was January 23rd [New York Times]
Gun Violence Coverage [Poets Reading the News]
Megan Merchant lives in the tall pines of Prescott, AZ. She is the author of two full-length poetry collections: Gravel Ghosts (Glass Lyre Press, 2016), The Dark’s Humming (2015 Lyrebird Award Winner, Glass Lyre Press, 2017), four chapbooks, and a forthcoming children’s book with Philomel Books. She was awarded the 2016-2017 COG Literary Award, judged by Juan Felipe Herrera. She is an Editor at The Comstock Review.
