Terence Degnan
I tried to write a letter
to the NRA
but my letter wasn’t weapon enough
for them
to respect it
so I tried to take the NRA
to trial
for the murders
of children
but my lawsuit
wasn’t gun enough
for the judge to hear me out
so I tried to buy the NRA
with American money
but the money wasn’t soaked
in enough children’s blood
for them to be bought
so I tried to run for government
in the gun capital of the U.S.A
but the NRA
beat me to it
so I tried to get a doctor for every child
and a psychotherapist for every man
with the money the NRA turned away
but the doctors lost the nerve
and the men weren’t cured
and the NRA laughed in my face
so I went down to the NRA
and shot every person there
and they labeled me a terrorist
and when they dragged me away
I was saying something
about their own medicine
but who knows
I probably need a doctor
I shouldn’t own a gun
Terence Degnan is the author of Still Something Rattles (Sock Monkey Press, 2016) and The Small Plot Beside the Ventriloquist’s Grave (Sock Monkey Press, 2012). His work has appeared in Prime Number Magazine, The Other Herald, and The OWS Poetry Anthology, as well as in the anthology, My Apocalypse (Sock Monkey Press, 2012). His two spoken word albums, BC (2008) and Calling Shotgun (2010) can be found on iTunes and Spotify.
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