A Country Governed by Fear - May 4 2023

 

A Country Governed by Fear

May 4 2023

When anyone can have a gun

everyone does.

No way to know

or be sure.

But when I pulled the trigger

   —  2 hands

grasping the barrel,

then squeezing slow and steady

with a level hold

just as I was told  —

and felt the working parts

sync perfectly,

before the sharp noise

and hard recoil

and seeing the target take the hit,

I got it

then and there.

Like stepping on the gas,

and having thousands of pounds

of steel and glass

effortlessly take off,

I instantly understood

the seductive allure

of such power at my fingertip.

Action at a distance,

force multiplied.

Cold metal

against my skin,

the weight on my hip.

And from then on

there was a swagger to my walk,

a feeling of being in charge.

Target practice.

Packing heat.

Decisive lethality.

Not me, of course.

But because, in a country governed by fear,

when anyone

could be armed and dangerous

and there's no way to tell.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/05/new-york-subway-chokehold-death-mental-illness/673950/