March 21, 2005: Red Lake, Minn., Red Lake Senior High School
16-year-old boy
opens fire on Indian Reservation and then high school
7 Dead 7 Wounded
2005, George W. Bush signs the NRA’s Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act bill into law
Protects gun manufacturers from being held liable for crimes committed with their weapons
April 16, 2007: Blacksburg, Virginia, Virginia Tech
23-year-old man
opens fire in two separate attacks on campus
33 Dead, 17 Wounded
February 14, 2008: DeKalb, Illinois, Northern Illinois University
27-year-old man
opens fire on university lecture hall
6 Dead, 21 Wounded
2008, NRA spends $40 million on U.S. elections
In 2012, 88 percent of Republicans and 11 percent of Democrats in Congress had received an NRA PAC contribution at some point in their career.
February 27, 2012: Chardon, Ohio, Chardon High School
17-year-old boy
opens fire in school cafeteria
3 Dead, 3 Wounded
April 2, 2012: Oakland, California, Oikos University
43-year-old man
opens fire on classroom, after ordering kids to line up against wall
7 Dead, 3 Wounded
2012, NRA’s Political Victory Fund super PAC spends $11.2 million on 2012 U.S. elections
December 14, 2012: Newtown, Conn., Sandy Hook Elementary
20-year-old man
opens fire on school, all victims are shot between 3 and 11 times
27 Dead, 2 Wounded
2012, NRA claims 100,000 new members
following the Sandy Hook shootings
June 7, 2013: Santa Monica, California, Santa Monica College
23-year-old man
opens fire on campus library
6 Dead, 4 Wounded
October 21, 2013: Sparks, Nevada, Sparks Middle School
12-year-old boy
opens fire on school basketball courts
2 Dead, 2 Wounded
2014, NRA claims 5 million dues-paying members
October 24, 2014: Marysville, Wash, Marysville Pilchuck High
15-year-old boy
opens fire on school cafeteria
5 Dead, 1 Wounded
“Candidates who support gun control do so at their political peril.”
--Chris W. Cox, chairman of the NRA-PVF (November, 2014)
“The National Rifle Association would like to congratulate pro-Second Amendment candidates across the country who won significant victories in their respective states and districts. The NRA scored impressive wins in hotly contested races and played a pivotal role in increasing pro-gun majorities in both chambers of Congress.”
--Posted on www.nraila.org, November 5, 2014
November 20, 2014: Tallahassee, Florida, Florida State University
31-year-old man
opens fire on campus library
1 Dead, 3 Wounded
Beautimus
November twists
and turns around us
Lipstick smeared
across sky
Weeds peeking from pavement
beneath our feet
Young awkward lovers
They come together
Lost in faith and fog
They put lips
together and have
no fear
Big Buddy Holly Glasses
welcome you to Clear Lake
Bras and panties
with penguin patterns
Sweet music
and it reminds me of you
The Thing Out Back
Perhaps next time you will
check out back
where the wild
things are
With their beady little eyes
and dripping chins
and whispers
that beckon
you forward
Out of your skin
Out of your comfort zone
Out of your belief systems
Lost in Lights
No longer easy
to find
an element of surprise
No matter how
far you travel
No matter how
hard you look
Rub at glass
Dig in
the ground
Put your hands in
the muck
Surprise
You’re dead inside
Barely breathing
But we put our hands up
at the show
Pushing forward
against barricade
The girls with nothing
but beer
in their bellies
bend at the knees
and miss
the good stuff
Peaking too early
How many have
No one wins
this fight
Aren’t we all
distressed from the stress
The bills
The bills
The bills
They’ll nickel
and dime us
to death
They’ll mark it
all up
and offer us
lies to pass
through the doors
up stairs
straight off streets
We all hold out
our hats
Please America
Children of the Corn Syrup
Shouting
like carnival barkers
Megaphones
Step right up
The heavy gate
swings heavy
against
your past
Navigating
Expertly so
Navigating
in hand
Amid the chaos
Run down
Gnawed off
Marks marks marks (who, me?)
Ground muddy
in spots
Setting fires
in tin drums
Flipping stacks
of filthy
mattresses
End over end
Frayed rope
swings carry us
over creeks
of water moccasins
Their white mouths agape
teaching us
a greater respect
for toughness
Destruction Chorus
I’m still waiting
for the miracle
We’re all
still waiting
for the miracle
to come
Leonard Cohen rings
in my ear
His mighty
baritone rings
Beckoning us
to sing
Hallelujah
There is protest in the air
Breathe it in
Breathe it in
Robin Hood
My daddy was a bankrobber
but he never hurt nobody
--Joe Strummer
“If poor people knew how rich rich people are, there would be riots in the streets”
--Chris Rock
Here’s to the ma
jority
One paycheck from poverty
Here’s to the underdog
One paycheck from poverty
I will see you
when they line us
against the wall
Our solidarity
St. Jude came
to me in a dream
Staff in hand
leading people
to the truth
Head in flames
Ready and willing to assist
in our trials
But can he crack
a safe?
But can he devise
a competent getaway?
But can he create
a foolproof plan?
Baby Teeth Are Sources of Stem Cells, Who Knew
Mothers line
their shelves
with jars
of baby teeth
Baby teeth in baggies
hidden beneath
book manuscript
drawer liners
Baby teeth
in jewelry boxes
between stones
and trinkets
Baby teeth
as jewelry
Pendants, earrings
Necklaces, key chains
Our teeth
begin to break
at six months
of age
Deciduous teeth
Milk teeth
Primary teeth
Temporary teeth
Teeth slowly begin
to erupt
in pairs
Twenty teeth
Mothers and fathers
put down
your jars
of baby teeth
Why can’t we
throw them
to wilderness
Dust to dust
Fists full
of baby teeth rings
Teeth hanging
from chains
First daughter
wearing tooth
of her first
daughter.
When she dies
her daughter wants
to pass that tooth to her
first daughter
The Bad Scene
Fish float
on surface
of water
as she wades
through it
waist high
Aviator shades
hold her hair back
We tried our best
to protect the world
from her
cold stare
Where is our refuge?
Where do we run?
Boots covered in mud
We’ve been hunted
My brothers, my sisters
Gutters run with blood
Working in darkness
2:00 a.m. bar time
The drunks dance
filling streets
But I can’t escape
her stare
My brothers
My sisters
Gutters run
with blood
The Longest Winter
Ill-fitting
In need
Constant adjustments
But I do my best
Sometimes I see
the end right
before me
Frozen in ditch
Frozen on lawn
inches from front door
Frozen
Let it go
I fall and chatter
The longest winter
Albert Dekker Was a Veteran Character Actor
Albert Dekker
was a veteran character actor
appearing in 70-plus films
Stage plays
Born Thomas Albert Ecke
December 20, 1904 Brooklyn
Appeared in James Whales’
The Great Garrick
Ran for and won
a seat in California State Assembly, 1944
Held office
for two years
until falling victim
to Joseph McCarthy
Junior Senator from Wisconsin
Communist witch hunt
McCarthy critic, Dekker
was blacklisted
until appearing
in East of Eden, 1955
Mid-sixties Dekker begins
taking liquid amphetamines
for his voice
Aided him in staying up
for days
1967, Dekker completes
Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch
William fucking Holden
May 5, 1968 Veteran Character
Actor Found Dead
in bathtub
crouching on his knees
Ball gag wrapped
around head
Clad only in a negligee
The word “Slave“
is found written
all over Decker’s body
in lipstick
The word “Whip”
is scrawled on buttocks
just above
two puncture wounds
Drawing of a vagina
on his stomach
Leather strap cinched
around neck
Rope tied to shower head
passed through
leather strap and bound
to ankles
Unlocked handcuffs
hang from both wrists
Hypodermic needles swing
from each arm
Albert Dekker was a veteran character actor
Election Day
White working class
voted Republican
again
Another election day
White working class
voted Republican
again
by thirty points
Thirty-point margin
against their best interests
They’ll have your children
sorting garbage
There Is Only Us
There is no us
versus them
There is only us
We must solve
our problems
together
High hopes
Thin air
They are wailing
Scraping
Scraping
Going
Going
down the up escalator
Words bouncing about walls
What are they saying now?
Feasting on our names
Wrapping themselves
in our reputations
They will swear
to tear us
down
They will swear
to tear us apart
What do they really know?
And do we actually care?
They will bloody themselves
to get to the bottom
When I rise
again it will be
with you
Love
Clutter
Gutters cluttered
with leaves
Sticks
Debris
Gutters cluttered
with despair
Dead insects
Saxophone
reeds
He always
wanted
to learn to play
the saxophone
Why Won’t She Just Collect Her Things and Leave?
Numbed by my occupation
Numbed by her
occupation why won’t she
just collect her things and leave
A grotesque exaggeration
she is as she stumps
the caricaturist
who lights a cigarette
between stained cupped hands
before dumping
his tray in frustration
upon the floor
Inks spilling this
way that way
Airbrush hoses whipping
like snakes on fire
Rainbows turn brown
with each passing
of their barbed tails
Spitting, sputtering
Breath knocked from them
From me
Her lifetime spent
on the periphery
Then the Puritans Sent Us to Helltown