America

locks. Feel the machined lip
on the chunk of the grip –
how it fits strong in the grasp

of the hand. Keep us safe, Jeb!
Keep us safe. Now your name’s on the block
we know how to lock down our neighbours,

take action on fright. It’s the heart of the gun, see,
the knock-down at night. Take off the trigger guard
as we settle in snug. Hit the guts of our dreams

with the boys in the shade who take lead to get laid –
thirty-three thousand this year alone,
mothered in grief. We saw them, they’re gone.