Sincerely, Your AR-15

Savannah Slone

First and foremost,

offer your thoughts and prayers

it isn’t action needed here,

but your thoughts and prayers

yes,

thoughts

and

prayers

it was thoughts and prayers that helped

survivors heal in

Aurora and

Orlando and

Las Vegas and

Sandy Hook and

Umpqua and

San Bernardino and

Sutherland Springs and

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and and  and    and        and               and

show me the anatomy of a murderer

as you rip me from the hands of the great-

great grandsons of your founding fathers

the greatest tool behind mass murder

trying to silence my silencer

trying to melt me down

trying to melt me down into a podium for your pleas

your begs

to stop me

some of you might try

to put a pistol in the hands

of your teachers

craft them custom utility belts with glue sticks and Band-Aids and Kleenex and extra ammunition

oh, yes, let them be human shields for your children

yes, put that in their union contracts

these children and these teachers whose lives are valued far less than mine

your hallways echo shrieks that fade to nothing

your textbooks are covered in crimson drip

you say never again

I say 60 rounds per minute

you call B.S.

I say power

over

people

you march for your lives

I say my rights over your lives

go ahead,

send your

thoughts and prayers,

but do you think that will stop me?

Savannah Slone is a queer writer who earned her B.A. in English: Professional and Creative Writing from Central Washington University and is completing her M.F.A. in Writing at Lindenwood University. Her poetry and short fiction has appeared in or will soon appear in Manastash Literary Arts Magazine, Creative Colloquy, Heavy Feather Review, Boston Accent Lit, PaperFox Lit Mag, The Stray Branch, The Airgonaut, and Ghost City Press. Savannah lives in Skykomish, WA, where she works a handful of part-time jobs and cares for her toddler with autism. She enjoys reading, writing, knitting, and hiking.