Today's poem is by Richard Michelson

Open Carry
       

After Pittsburgh, what would you have me do, God asks?
Eleven slaughtered in my own living room. And that cute
Black kid, what was his/her name? No, the other one. No,
the other one. No, not that one. Damn, never mind. Maybe
I should have gone with metal detectors, but the beeping
interfered with the harpists. What about Auschwitz? Not
many of you remember that but for me a million years is
less than a second. Imagine tough Jews with guns guard-
ing the ghetto. I just thought of that joke your father liked.
A poor man begs me for a billion dollars. Lord, for you it
isn't even a penny. OK, I say, in a minute. I didn't mean
to mention your dad. That must've been tough back then,
him gunned down for being.... Me, I don't see color, race,
or sexual orientation. I am what your world calls a white
limousine liberal. Sorry, I know, not funny. Even as a little
god I'd guffaw in all the wrong places. Ever get the giggles
at a funeral? That's the devil's laughter spewing like an AK-
47 in a schoolyard. Don't let Satan fool you, pretending He's
me. Heaven is everyone armed and open carry. Come on in.

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Copyright © 2024 Richard Michelson All rights reserved
from Sleeping as Fast as I Can
Slant Books
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission