Let’s play hangman

 

drawn into the noose—

 

the letter ‘e’ did him in—we needed a vowel—

 

& the lady in front of us in line at the Goodwill said

did you hear there was another shooting

in Florida—a high school—49—oh no not 49 dead just shot—

 

another

 

the vowel you were looking for is ‘o’

 

‘o’ the shape a mouth makes when blowing

bubbles on the porch in april when we take

off our sweaters—leave them on the back of desk chairs—

 

9 dead—yes 9 dead now

 

& there is a letter to be guessed

 

& the letter is likely one of 26—some more weighty than others—

 

& the letter is so heavy that it hangs—

 

i’m thinking about that time in middle school when

we waited in the grass by the church—

 

where we sat excited by the threat of a bomb

& you were briefly in love with someone

whose hands was sweaty—

 

‘o’ like a bomb—like the doorknob to the church—

 

another

 

it was all so absurd—we passed fear &

moved on to laughter

 

we laughed—

 

mouths shaped like ‘o’

 

‘o’ the barrel of a gun—

the tongue in the lockdown drill—

be quiet—that’s the shadow—

 

guess a letter guess a letter

 

another

 

i want to buy my damn clothing

& get out of there—

 

& the prayers become ghosts—prying

themselves from the camera of my iphone—

 

hashtags in their jaws—

 

there was another shooting

 

& the barrel of the gun

guesses the letter ‘o’

 

finally—

 

with our arms dangling legless—

 

let’s play again

let’s play again

 

start with the vowlers—

 

it will be april then & there will

be less mouths to fill with bubbles

 

& the sweater didn’t stop the bullet—

 

why didn’t you guess?

 

another

 

another

 

the scaffolds draw a crowd—

 

we sit in the grass by the church—