Once a man with a gun tucked
into a side holster walked by
my table. I was eating brunch,
was mid-sip of my mimosa.
Quiche doesn’t require a 9mm.

*

I was steps from the door when my phone
rang for the third time. I finally answered
but my boss cut me off, Stay away,
there’s a shooter. I spent the day glued
to the TV as colleagues were gunned down.
When we were allowed to return to work
they brought in grief counselors. I screamed
at her, There’s nowhere safe! She said nothing.

*

There’s a mountain in Hawaii I liked to hike, the teal
ocean crushing the sand in a passionate embrace
from my high viewpoint. Next to the trail, a gun
range. The first time I heard the crack of a shot
I dropped to the ground, curled my body
into a tight comma.

*

Houston. Miami. Dayton. Boston. Sandy Hook.
55 dead. 13 dead. 9 dead. 48 dead. The city
changes, the number changes, nothing
else changes.

 

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Courtney LeBlanc is the author of Beautiful & Full of Monsters (forthcoming from Vegetarian Alcoholic Press), chapbooks All in the Family (Bottlecap Press) and The Violence Within (Flutter Press), a Pushcart Prize nominee, and a finalist in the Furious Gazelle Spring 2019 Writing Contest. She has her MBA from University of Baltimore and her MFA from Queens University of Charlotte. She loves nail polish, wine, and tattoos. Read her publications on her blog: www.wordperv.com. Follow her on twitter: @wordperv, and IG: @wordperv79.

 

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