Writers Resist: Because the Pen Is Mightier
Track the nation’s mass shootings at the Gun Violence Archive—and what a horrible shame that the site exists.
The Gun-Seller
By DS Levy A young man travels out of state where it’s possible to buy a gun, no questions asked. He buys an AK-47. The transaction is easier than getting the driver’s license that allows him to navigate across the desert highway. If you want his story, read his manifesto on Instagram. This story […]
Questions for My Shooter
By Abby E. Murray Which of my relatives will point out how I was raised humanely, in a house with a yard where I could pick blueberries I grew myself or sit on a blanket in the grass when it was warm? And who will tell them that’s good because it was, the humane […]
American Ouroboros
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Fine People
By Paul Colton Based on Martin Niemöller’s confession-turned-poem, “First they came …” First a fine man killed six Sikhs in a Wisconsin temple but Republicans did not act because they’re not Sikhs Then a fine man murdered black worshippers in Charleston but Republicans did not act because they’re not black Then a fine man […]
Dear Mitch
By Alicia Cerra Waters My mother found Jesus. He was on sale at the Walmart in El Paso. Mom is on a budget because no one pays her any money to play pretend. When she prays to the plastic Jesus with a ninety nine cent sticker cemented to the back of his robes at […]
Good Mourning, America
By Kit-Bacon Gressitt It’s eighth-grade writing class day and the weekly morning jaunt to my favorite little school, nestled in a rural Southern California valley. Here, the water table’s level prevents developers from bulldozing nurseries and groves, and there’s still a farmer’s grange. A canopy of Live Oaks shades my drive to the school, […]
Fourteen Reasons to Love America the Beautiful
By Tori Cárdenas Worn flags fall and burn / as bumper stickers / beer cans / boardshorts / truck nuts / red visors and head coverings / and hearts purple-swelling with pride / beneath twisted knuckles Paint your storm windows / with razor wire / and the blessed blood of the unborn / seal […]
What Then?
By Kathy Lundy Derengowski And what if the next crazed school-shooter is the security officer, with a long gun and a long memory and a short temper, who is tired of smart-ass kids who call him “rent-a-cop” and mock his lumbering swagger? What if one too many of them have flipped him off, and […]