day EIGHT

The Carson Effect

the good doctor believes: if the Jews
had guns, the Holocaust might not
have happened

and if Russia
had some sort of army or something
then Germany would never have
invaded, and if Native Americans
had rifles then whites would have thrown
up their hands and forgotten about
Manifest Destiny and gladly stopped
expanding west, or maybe they’d have piled
into their boats and sailed back to
where they fucking belonged, and if Tibetan
monks had AR-15s then the Chinese military
never would have attempted to overthrown them,
and if Muslims didn’t have to register their
handguns with the state the Christians never
would have started any of those Crusades,
and if Americans only had massive
military superiority and drones and a worldwide
networks of spies and secret prisons, then
terrorist would never think of attacking us again

if we all had guns nobody would shoot guns
because we’d all have guns and the bad
guys would be afraid of the good
guys even though good guys often turn into
bad guys when they break in all the wrong places
but maybe we’ll be able to tell a good
guy from a bad guy if we force everyone
into hoodies and uniforms to make
things clearer for the cable news viewers
—see? problem solved

                           

no wonder our new president added
this guy to his cabinet
and I wonder what history holds
in store for us next…

                                --James Duncan