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 is [...]
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 life, [...]
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 ran [...]
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 least [...]
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, where [...]
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 out [...]
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 his [...]