Chemicals in markers
Notify the community
when lawns are sprayed
Hand sanitizers hurting us
Kids can’t play
in the dirt
Kids won’t play
in the dirt
Our lawsuit culture
Cold feet
How will we instill self confidence?
How will we instill courage?
How will we ever revolt?
We were allowed
to fail
We were held
responsible for missteps
We were
challenged
to be
the best
we could be
In the face
of our mistakes
we learned
Acceptable risks
Reasonable risks
Essential risks
The Safety Crusade
Helicopters
Unsupervised children
are children
in trouble
Risks were once
essential
Glorious
Don’t run
too close to the water
Don’t run
too close to the edge
Don’t run
Financial risks
Social risks
Emotional risks
Physical risks
Our lives
are filled with risks
Today’s children
are sheltered
from all risks
Rather than
associate risk
with hazard
Shouldn’t risks
be considered essential
for development
Our future
leaders
development
Look how well
Mark climbs
that tree
Has turned into Liam,
get down or you’ll break
every bone in your body
The Kids Just Want To Be All Right
Children need
speed
Children need
to taste danger
Children need
to play with fire
Children need
to climb
We were builders
of forts
our parents never saw
We were builders
of worlds
our parents never knew
We chopped down
small trees with hatchets
for new rooms
And we crossed
busy streets
to do it all
Exploring heights, soaring
Children must
hijack your helicopter
Where is the fear
of sterile
boring societies
Producing sterile
boring children
Our future leaders
Negotiating risk
was once a part
of everyday survival
Rub dirt on it
Walk it off
Shake it off
Hammers, nails
Knives and scissors
Pliers to pull
Bodies of water
Newspaper burning
in the bonfire
Aggression
Negotiation
Cooperation
She Says
She says it’s so much
bigger than us
She says she woke up
and wondered how my hand filled the till
She says it hurts
like a bitch
She says what’s a down guy doing
that far up Glenwood, anyway
She says I know
too many strangers
She says I can lead
rats to water
She says I’m headed straight
into TBA
The Helpless Parent
Her little body shakes
as she empties her
stomach into bowl
Across tile
Carpet
The cat
The Well
Sometimes I feel
like the last monster
at the bottom
of the well
Looking up
at my betters
Looking down
at me
Less
Less than human
But maybe that’s not
such a bad thing
to be considered
less than human
No killing for dollars
No killing for a poor upbringing
No killing for being poor
No killing for be underprivileged
No killing for religion
No killing for G.I. Bill
No marching off to war
to kill
Upstairs at Graceland
So difficult to grasp
her foreign tongue
Her cheeks
are rebel red
Where she has kept
her secrets
Greens, yellows, and whites
put there by Priscilla
As you enter the front
door you are greeted
by stairway leading
to second floor
She has a knife
She cuts out my cancer
and she opens
like a rose
Carved apart
Drank and laughed
at the world
Put our initials in trees
Directly above
foyer is the bathroom
where Elvis was found
face down
Humor dry as a corpse
Sturm Und Drang
Put it in
the honey hole
Climate controlled 68 degrees
Practical not partisan
Young and in love
in America
Elvis’s bathroom
Elvis’s office with white leather couch
Elvis’s bedroom behind
black padded doors
Lee Miller portrait
hangs above the bed
A photograph
of a photographer
She is my upstairs at Graceland
Angry Brigade
They say it’s never
too late to mend
But how do you
repair a person
with so many
phantom limbs
I need help
Please fix me
They say it’s never
too late to mend
Fetch me an ax
to grind
Keep swinging
but I’m hitting
an all-time
lowdown
They say it’s never
too late to mend
She stares
to coax something out
of me I have nothing
to say
For once
The Dance
I want to touch
every part
of every par
t
of her
The Man Who Kissed Hands
The man
who kissed
hands found
those hands empty
Palsied hands
on the road
Attempting to repay
student loans
People like us
Nothing is handed to us
And the man who kissed
hands will make sure of that
Childcare
Healthcare
College
Shit, paying the water bill
Forgo vacations
Forgo new cars
Forgo going out to eat
Forgo going to the doctor
The man
who kissed hands
will convince you
he is working
in your best interests
while he undermines
the common good
While he turns
the middle class
against the working
poor and the working
poor against the poor
The Greenest Eyes
We lay
our claim to it
We lay
our shame on the other
side of the door
I know I must not
drop it
I promise to keep it close
Child Number 4, Cherry on Top, Part 2
She still looks
new to me
Each day she is
a blessing
Her sleeping face
peeking out
between layers
of blankets
Clean clothes
strewn across her bed
A cat behind
her bent knees
I hold her
hand everyday
My hands don’t want
to let go
No rush to hand her over
to the unknown.
She is fearless
She is my hero
She is fragile
She comforts
She needs comforting
She is the strongest person I know
I love watching her grow up
It agonizes me
to watch her grow up
She is my baby
Soon she will be ready
to leap from the nest
just as her sister before her
leapt from the nest
A knowing smile
I have helped make her
strong enough to leap
Just as she has made me
strong enough
to watch her jump
Putting Dots Together
Fashioned beneath a bridge
over a low creek bed
She housed collections
like magpie nests
A lifetime spent
bleeding for everything
Bleeding
Always bleeding
Stealing moments
from poisonous people
Stealing
Always stealing
God willed it
and the creek did rise
She put her boat in the water
and rocked it
My guardian angel
flying on singed wings
Filled my ears
with lies
tall tales
and things
too good
to be true
National Rifle Association
1871, the National Rifle Association is founded
Its focus is marksmanship, hunting, and conservation
1975, the NRA turns its attention to politics
Its lobbying arm, the Institute for Legislative Action is created
June 12, 1976: California State University, Fullerton
37-year-old custodian
opens fire in the campus library
7 dead, 2 wounded
1976, the NRA creates its Political Action Committee
The Political Victory Fund, to influence our elections
Jan 29, 1979: San Diego, Calif, Grove Cleveland Elementary
16-year-old girl
opens fire from her home, across the street
2 dead, 9 wounded
When asked why she did it, the woman responds, “I don’t like Mondays. This livens up the day”
July 28, 1979: “I Don’t Like Mondays” by the Boomtown Rats
reaches number 1
on the UK Singles Charts
The song is based on the Grover Cleveland Elementary shooting
1980, NRA endorses a presidential candidate for the first time
throwing their money behind Ronald Reagan
January 21, 1985: Goddard, Kansas
14-year-old boy
opens fire at Goddard Junior High School
1 Dead, 3 Wounded
October 18, 1985: Detroit, Michigan, Murray-Wright High School
4 teenagers
open fire during halftime of homecoming football game
6 Wounded
December 5, 1986: Lewistown, Montana, Fergus High School
14-year-old boy
opens fire on vice-principal and classmates
1 Dead, 3 Wounded
Sept 26, 1988: Greenwood, South Carolina, Oakland Elementary
19-year-old man
opens fire in school cafeteria
2 Dead, 8 Wounded
Massacre (mas’ e ker) n. 1. the indiscriminate, merciless killing of a number of human beings
SYN. SLAUGHTER
January 17, 1989: Stockton, California, Cleveland School
24-year-old man
opens fire on elementary school playground
6 Dead, 32 Wounded
November 1, 1991: Iowa City, Iowa, University of Iowa
28-year-old man
opens fire on theoretical space plasma physics research group
6 Dead, 1 Wounded
May 1, 1992: Olivehurst, California, Lindhurst High School
20-year-old man
opens fire and holds over 80 students hostage
4 Dead, 10 Wounded
1992, following election of Bill Clinton
600,000 new members join the NRA
Dec 14, 1992: Great Barrington, Mass., Simon’s Rock College
18-year-old man
opens fire, later claiming insanity
2 Dead, 4 Wounded
1995, Ted Nugent is elected
to NRA Board of Directors
1995, NRA-ILA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre refers to ATF agents
as jack-booted government thugs. Former U.S. President George H. W. Bush resigns from NRA
February 2, 1996: Moses Lake, Wash., Frontier Middle School
14-year-old boy
opens fire on his algebra class
3 Dead, 1 Wounded
The United States makes up 5% of the world’s population
while owning 50% of the world’s (civilian-owned) guns
October 1, 1997: Pearl, Mississippi, Pearl High School
16-year-old boy
opens fire on his ex-girlfriend and other students
3 Dead, 7 Wounded
December 1, 1997: West Paducah, Kentucky, Heath High School
14-year-old boy
opens f
ire on a prayer circle
3 Dead, 5 Wounded
The FBI uses the anagram AS/MCI
when referring to Active Shooter/Mass Casualty Incidents
March 24, 1998: Craighead County, Ark., Westside Middle School
13-year-old boy and 11-year-old boy
open fire after setting off a fire alarm and emptying school
5 Dead, 10 Wounded
May 21, 1998: Springfield, Oregon, Thurston High School
15-year-old boy
opens fire in school cafeteria
4 Dead, 23 Wounded
April 20, 1999: Littleton, Colorado, Columbine High School
18-year-old boy and 17-year-old boy
open fire on school after spending their morning bowling
15 Dead, 21 Wounded
2000, On February 29, the youngest school shooter ever, Dedrick Owens, age 6
shoots and kills a classmate at Buell Elementary school in Flint, Michigan
“From my cold, dead hands!”
--Charlton Heston, NRA President (2000)
March 5, 2001: Santee, California, Santana High School
15-year-old boy
opens fire in a school bathroom
2 Dead, 13 Wounded