It’s Complicated

By Mark Williams

I’m scrolling through my Facebook feed—sunsets,
cats, lost dogs, cats—when I see a post
from a friend I’ve known for thirty-plus years. Someone
like someone you know, I bet. Your someone
might roof Habitat homes, deliver meals to shut-in’s,

conduct sing-a-longs at elder cares, teach kids to read.
Without divulging my someone, I think it’s fair to say,
on balance, his scale tips to the good—
as your someone’s scale tips, most likely,
on most days, anyway. The post in question

refers to a certain President of the United States
who wants to outlaw semiautomatic guns, a first step
in outlawing all guns and if you are not afraid to show it,
re-post this, it says. This, three days
after the most recent carnage. How is this possible?

So don’t be surprised when your friend re-posts or compares
bullhorns in Nashville to handguns at the Capitol
or spouts the dangers of firearm registries. But
if you figure things out—how a someone like this
can be a someone like that—let me know.

I could be dying to hear from you.

Mark Williams’s poems have appeared in Writer’s Resist, The Southern Review, Nimrod, Rattle, and The American Journal of Poetry. Kelsay Books published his collection, Carrying On, in 2022. His fiction has appeared in The Baffler, Eclectica, The First Line, The Write Launch, and Cleaver. He lives in Evansville, Indiana.

Image credit: Golden Gate Blond via Cyberbullying Research Center under “Fair Use.”

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