I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot someone . . .
–DJT, 2016
you want to replicate a Glock
so you let your
index
finger, maybe the middle
finger too, be the
barrel
and you flex your thumb
into a hammer,
lift
it up, bend it to cock it,
and close the rest
turning
your fingers into a grip,
the magazine spring-
loaded,
first round chambered,
so when you
squeeze
and make that pursed-
lips shooting
sound
you will see your hand
jump a bit to remind
you
next time you have to
aim a little lower,
ok?
Image: “trumpsaic-infogramselfie-3” by Oli Goldsmith, licensed under CC 2.0
Fred Marchant is the author of five books of poetry, the most recent of which is Said Not Said (2017). Earlier books include The Looking House, Full Moon Boat, and House on Water, House in Air. His first book, Tipping Point, won the 1993 Washington Prize, and was reissued in a 20th anniversary second edition. Marchant has co-translated works by Vietnamese poets Tran Dang Khoa and Vo Que. He has also edited Another World Instead: The Early Poems of William Stafford. An emeritus professor of English, he is the founding director of the Suffolk University Poetry Center in Boston. He is the winner of the May Sarton Award from the New England Poetry Club, given to poets "whose work is an inspiration to other writers.
Latest posts by Fred Marchant (see all)
- Aiding and Abetting - December 16, 2018