ofearthandstars | LJ Idol - Week 12

The below is an entry for Week 12 of therealljidol.

Brian Bilston told us
America is a gun,
a testament to the violence
that birthed a country through war,
that built its institutions over the bodies
of the indigenous
and on the backs of black slaves,
shrouded by the myths
of laudable and self-made men (women, persons).

America may be an AR-15
her high muzzle velocity
synced with the demands of capitalism
and corporatocracy.
Poised to produce every second (60 rounds per minute)
a force capable of
maximum wound effect;
the microcosm of a nation’s military might
splayed across the globe,
grasping,
enforcing white heteronormative ideals,
now carried out weekly by young men of privilege
in communities Jewish, black, and queer.

Even her celebratory fireworks are charged
with gunpowder –
charcoal, sulfur, and saltpeter –
that, once ignited,
oxidize metal salts and iron filings
to deceiving displays of light.
The fuse is slow burning,
but she feels ready to fly apart,
flinging off her fifty stars
to overtake the night,
inspiring hearts to freedom,
and terrorizing wildlife and
veterans of violence.

What is there to love of a country
with wounds so deeply carved,
with wounds so continuously inflicted
by mass shootings and mass failures?
The powerful reward and protect their own,
and overturn the rights of the many.
Desperately they cower,
rewrite, and legislate the teachings
of our shared history,
eager to hide her acrid truths
and repatriate the next generation
to their vision.

For the rest of us,
wherever we go, there we are,
and so, too, is the work.

If America is a gun
we must deconstruct it –
remove the magazines
of hubris in power and patriarchy,
eject the live rounds of racism and bigotry,
withdraw the take-down pins of white supremacy
and religious nationalism,
pull apart the bolt carriers to examine our bitter history,
and clean her chambers of dirt and oil.

If America is a gun
we must make it a garden –
we must melt and reshape its muzzle into plowshares
and its stocks into sculptures,
bury its bullets in rocky fallowed fields,
and take up our newfound tools
to tend the soil,
plant new seedlings and new ideas.

Let us be the blacksmiths,
the gardeners,
the builders,
the artists.
Each pushing against the powerful,
rejecting oppression,
running towards hope.
Let us be tending and nurturing
in our spaces to one another
and to those truths we hold to be self-evident,
though yet to be realized.

Until then,
if we cannot love her,
at least let us pull on our gloves.

______
Note: Inspired by Brian Bilston’s much better poem “America is a Gun” as well as the RAWTools initiative, which turns surrendered firearms into garden tools and art.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

drippedonpaper

This reminded me of a verse: Isaiah 2:4- "He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore."

Your entry is what I wanted to say, but it came out in clumsy prose. You truly have the heart of a poet!

I especially like the line: "Let us be tending and nurturing / in our spaces to one another." It sometimes feels like all we can do...but it does matter!

ofearthandstars

Thank you! The Biblical quote you mentioned was an inspiration for the RAWtools initiative and definitely influenced this a bit. I actually hated this on first posting, but I think with some editing I might try sharing it elsewhere. Thank you for your constant unwavering encouragement.

banana_galaxy

My favourite verse was the deconstructing one, but I loved it all and enjoyed where your inspiration came from. I remember seeing an article recently about Oakland accepting guns to repurpose into garden tools so I was already familiar with that concept and I think it's great.

Thank you, I appreciate the feedback. I'm glad to hear those initiatives are spreading/in other areas!

erulissedances

Beautifully written.

- Erulisse (one L)

Thank you so much!

bleodswean

Great work on furthering this analogy.

Thank you! I think with some tweaking/revisions I could get this stronger, and will likely play with it more.

d0gs.livejournal.com

The imagery in this is absolutely wonderful.

I really love this in particular:

take up our newfound tools
to tend the soil,
plant new seedlings and new ideas.

Thank you so much! I wanted to remain hopeful.

adoptedwriter

This!: "...remove the magazines
of hubris in power and patriarchy,..." So well said!

Thank you!

roina_arwen

Honestly I like your poem much better than Bilston’s, although his poem is more like what I would write on the subject. Yours packs far more punch! Great job!

Wow, thank you for the kind feedback!

mollywheezy

Let us be tending and nurturing
in our spaces to one another
and to those truths we hold to be self-evident,
though yet to be realized.

That was my favorite line. The entire poem is beautifully written. Great job!