To Shoot or Not to Shoot?

October 1, 2018

I don’t know how I feel about guns

But I know exactly how I felt

Sitting behind the PA system to get my volunteer hours in

Waiting for the auction to finish and the band to play

And offered a rifle as a prize.

I don’t know how I feel about guns,

But the older man who earlier mistook me as a college student working in the kitchen won the gun.

Whenever I stood behind the PA system,

And he locked and loaded the gun my whole world went dark.

I don’t know how I feel about guns,

But I was afraid this man was going to open fire on a room full of Chiefs of Police from West Virginia.

Everyone laughed instead at the noise while I audibly shivered.

I don’t know how I feel about guns,

But being so vulnerable — in a moment where nobody would believe you if you told them this story — was unbearable.

Even if the gun didn’t have ammunition in it.

Something wrong with this poem?

Submitted to a slam

“Slam on Gun Control”

Replies are closed for this poem.

See what makes your poem unique — its voice, energy, themes, and the literary traditions it draws from.

Comments (0)

No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.