Poem of the day 06.22.11

shooting at the beach

i listen to her talk
about the shooting at the beach
that had made the news in the last week

she says, you know what i think?

which when being asked by a human being
can never mean anything good

i think they should stop selling all of that booze
at those seaside bars, she says

it’s the alcohol that makes them all nuts
carrying on and shooting each other

and it’s not just the beer
it’s those fruity drinks that they sell
the ones that come in those
fancy-shaped plastic glasses

those are the ones that really get them going

and you know they aren’t checking i.d.’s, she says
those beach bar bastards are only out to make a profit

what do they care if some idiot gets drunk
on beer or their sweet grain alcohol
and then goes off to kill a bunch of people?

i tell you the world’s not right anymore, she says

which is a lie

the world has always been wrong
because it’s only been run by human beings

we need something else

or nothing at all

they oughta ban that alcohol, she says
they oughta put up cameras too

maybe if there’s cameras everywhere
people will think before they act, she says

she’s a good woman, i suppose

she votes and has kids

she goes to the beach and eats hot dogs on the fourth of july

she probably holds her farts
and makes love to her husband a few times a year
to keep him quiet

she believes in jesus and fears god

she’s the perfect american fool

but i know i’ll never be lucky enough
to get her drunk ass in the crosshairs of a gun
on the wrong side of a saturday night

and to be quite honest
that thought depresses the hell out of me.