Elizabeth Knapp
Is That a Gun in Your Pocket, or Are You Just Glad to See Me?
Because we could not look you in the eye,
we turned to social media. In your suburbs,
yard signs blossomed, dollars spent
and deposited themselves. Everywhere,
carnivals returned to fashion, particularly those
employing clowns. When I say we, I mean
the dark that seeds the fear of itself.
Summer evenings still featured sprinklers
and baseball for the sake of fans,
but everyone agreed the sun seemed shaky.
By everyone, I mean the collective dream
we restream each night. America,
in one tiny fist you held a bottle of pills
marked Amnesia; in the other a concealed .45.
Elizabeth Knapp is the author of The Spite House, winner of the 2010 De Novo Poetry Prize. The recipient of awards from Literal Latté and Iron Horse Literary Review, she has work forthcoming in LUMINA, New Orleans Review, River Styx, and Sonora Review, among other journals. She teaches at Hood College in Frederick, Maryland. Visit her website: elizabeth-knapp.com.
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