we thought we might be ashamed, but we weren’t

i went into a
public space
and was
shot in the face
by a kid.

i was told
i would be safe,
told that
everyone here is
in possession of
a gun,
told that
an armed society
is a
polite society.

there are many
hundreds of thousands
of guns here,
here
in this state
alone.

i was told
i would be safe.
so i went out into
a public space
and got
shot in the face
by a kid.

look at all these bodies
lying about.
lazy bodies
lying about.
don’t you know
you have to
earn your life?

the only safety here
is
on all these guns
and
on all these guns
the safety is
off.

and look at all these
lazy bodies
lying about.

had they
worked harder
they’d not be in this
supine position.

some of them
even
are face down,
too apathetic to look.

i went into a
public space
today and was
shot in the face
by a kid.

in my next life
i will try
to work
harder.