Anywhere America
the early autumn sky was pale blue soft
clouds were cropped crisp and mundane
laughter and the rustling of autumn leaves
drown the untimely ringing of bells
as manicured lawns and clattering of buses
begin another time stamped day in Anywhere America.
It was the first of the last day they smiled
having had faith in this one drill in preparation for whom?
a fire or tornado drill made sense but lockdowns?
hold up! hold up!
the pen is writing the story too fast; they all loved
a good story and not hesitate to say
“no one should write or tell stories like this.”
(!pop!pop!pop! a familiar sound they knew all too well
the scurrying of heels and sneakers, !pop! screeching with panic
cell phones set to silence the “womp womp”
betray the randomness of life !pop! of death !pop!pop!pop!
fear huddled !pop!pop! with eyes hidden !pop!
awaiting fate unknown !pop!pop!pop!)
who was the first to hear It?
who engaged It first and sounded the alarm by giving up life?
what did anyone truly know, or try to understand
why It would put death on blast?
where was Its parents, or Its friends?
where did It get the right to have death heavy in hand?
the anticipated recoil and repeated target practice
can’t recapitulate the misgivings of defenseless movements
triggered by knowledge of what has transpired before
holed up! holed up!
high powered intentions deaden
hearts and minds of Lifers
who care only for being “strapped” and life unborn.
(!pop!pop! in a hailstorm of battlefield gore !pop!pop!
mangle bodies beyond recognition organic mass paint walls,
!pop!pop!pop! blood smear and wax hallway and classroom floors
the unlucky !pop! are unrecognizable !pop!pop! faces and bodies
a splayed mass; no pictures no pictures no pictures,
innocence denied no pictures no pictures no pictures)
they carried backpacks, sat at desks, opened books
imagination wide and endless as the multi-layered sky
dreams set forth by their loved ones
now, live days that never wake, nights that never sleep
holed up! hold up!
guilt haunts their souls knowing they shamelessly prayed
“let it be someone else’s, not mine” as they raced toward sirens
to bury their hearts with the unlucky and the lucky.
rains no longer matter, snows no longer matter
the migrations of geese and monarchs are trivial
against the autumn sky falling dead leaves
spoiled are birthdays and Christmases
there is no Thanksgiving and no Giving Thanks
to days months and years roiled in memories past.
give them any memento torn bloody or not to hold on to.
today forward life breathes chaos.
(another day in Anywhere America:
Blacksburg VA, Newton Ct. Uvalde TX.
Austin TX. Parkland FL. Columbine CO.
Greencastle PA. Santa Fe TX. Red Lake MN.
Roseburg OR. Nickel Mines PA. Oakland CA.
Fullerton CA. Nashville TN. Stockton CA.
Dekalb IL. Rancho Tehema CA. Santa Monica CA.
Charleston WV. Iowa City IA. Craighead County AR.
Mesa AZ. South Pasadena CA. Marysville WA.
Springfield OR. Olivehurst CA. Kent OH. Oxford MI.
Winder GA. East Lansing MI. Las Vegas NV.
Plain Dealing LA. Tucson AZ.
To Be Continued……}
thousands of heart felt
“Our Thoughts and Prayers are With You”
take flight on ethereal dandelion puffballs
seeding hope healing resilience
only to bloom gardens of polythene dandelions
swaying and wavering half-mast
our thoughts and prayers
our thoughts and prayers
until the next Anywhere America.
Devery Landrum has worked as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker specializing working
with children and adolescents for over twenty years. He has been writing poetry
since he was in high school and has had poems in The San Fernando Journal, Blindman’s Rainbow, Writer’s Cramp, Sounds of Poetry, The Sunday Suitor Poetry Review, Lucid Moon, and the Society of American Poets. He is a member of The Writers Center in Bethesda MD.
Pulsebeat Poetry Journal 