Monday
30 October 2017

— something curiously like sunlight out there!

Good Morning All,

I have some bad news and some good news: In about two minutes I'm going to hit you with a gun poem of my own creation. But after that, Scout’s honor, no more gun stuff in these pages.

Partially, it’s Dylan Thomas’s fault for writing his villanelle Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night. After sending it off to all of you on his birthday on the 27th, I naturally started messing around with the 19-line form.

But the other reason has to do with my becoming in these latter years a borderline OCD candidate. Those alphabets, as you probably know, stand for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, which means that once I get into something, I really get into it. 

And the particular something in this case is military semi-automatic rifles being lawful in the country of my birth. After those fifty-nine concert goers in Las Vegas were stripped of their lives, their liberties, and their chances to pursue happiness (Declaration of Independence), I went back and read a lot around on the Internet on the 2nd Amendment and the vaunted gun culture of America. 

I did not get too angry through most of it, but then I got to Sandy Hook. That did it. Twenty little seven-year-old girls and boys hiding in the bathroom gunned down by a nut case who legally purchased his assault rifles, thanks to the NAR and the gun lobby and all the bought-and-paid for members of Congress. And people saying, well, that's the price we have to pay for freedom. Utter horseshit. Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness  outweighs Yes of course you may own an AK-47 by a few tons.

Gallup ran a standard poll a week after those kids were murdered, including this question: Are you for or against a law which would make it illegal to manufacture, sell or possess semi-automatic guns known as assault rifles? A grand total of 44% of the people polled were in favor of such a law.

The past few days, I’ve actually been losing some sleep gnawing on all that. So, I thought a poem might—as has happened before—act in some cathartic fashion to flush away some of all this angst about guns and my disillusionment about America. Whether it works or not, I’ll let you know. Here it is for what it’s worth:

A True Patriot Responds to Sandy Hook
Bheka Pierce

God, it’s great to hold this gun in hand,
To protect the rights of us, one and all,
In this our grand Old Glory land.

The feel of cold steel, smell of oil, and
That rush of power down below my craw,
God, it’s great fun to hold hard my gun in hand.

No one can smirk now since I’m a man,
No one dares laugh to make me feel small
In this our grand Old Glory Land.

I’m ready to defend my sacred fatherland;
I’ll not betray my brothers, but will stand tall,
God, I’m great to hold this gun within my hand.

Yes, sir, you’re talking to a proud American,
Who’ll shoot to maim and kill before he’ll let fall
This our grand Old Glory land.

If a bunch of kids must die, please understand
They helped protect the rights of us, one and all,
God is good to let me hold this gun in hand,
In this our Grand Old Glory land.

Go Well and Stay Well,

Bhekaron

P.S. Two Holly snaps: