There is a bullet in a box of crayons with really strange names like Parkland Perrywinkle, Sandy Hook Sanguine, and Great Mills Green in a place where children play Russian Roulette with their school supplies when they reach in to grab one and they’ve been learning about probability this week Forrest Gump will tell them you never know if you’re going to finish the lesson or turn into a statistic my sister likes to create mosaics by putting a hairdryer to crayons melting cascades of wax down a blank page sometimes she reaches in and it’s the one lead crayon at the top of the page and it’s only one color that seeps down into the crevices of the cafeteria’s tile floor that proceeds to wash away the Proud Honor Roll Parent stickers washes away the Proud Honor Roll Parent stickers I see another child reach into the box and I write another word problem I write another word problem: “Zoey reaches into a box of crayons. What is the likelihood she will not get to hang her drawing up on her kitchen refrigerator? What is the likelihood her funeral photo will hang there instead?” Draw students’ attention to the key word “likelihood.” Tell students This word shows that the question is asking whether or not you will live to tell your parents how your day at school was. and I wonder when school desks will take the shape of caskets in a place where both screams of laughter and screams of terror
are permitted

The Remains


I am the son of Sam,
I am, I am.


Daddy has gone a-hunting,
With his double barreled shotgun.


People can’t live on guns alone;
Gun’s at home.
Put a bullet in your mobile phone.


They take their lives, but they leave their bodies;
They keep on living in their world of pain.
All that we are left with is…
Nobody.
All that remains are the remains.


(C)2018 Aa Harvey. All Rights Reserved.

By Arcassin Burnham

There's no explaining the loss that i felt,
heaven rewards the people put through hell,
the fire , the fire , the fire,
that i feel inside at this moment, that I can't tell,

people don't see the light to guide them home,
why won't these troubles just leave me alone,
isolate , isolate , isolate,
the things that i feel I'm afraid of, I'm way too old.

...Witness the beginning of a new.
witness a beginning of a new me.

...Witness the beginning of a new.
a beginning where I am free.

I couldn't be the one to make you stay,
But I could make sure that you are okay,
sins on top , sins on top , sins on top,
just like you I'm not perfect, I'm not a saint,

Ignorant people can't puncture my shield,
If i am damaged i know i will heal,
evolving , evolving , evolving,
the person that I use to be, I can not deal.

...Witness the beginning of a new.
witness a beginning of a new me.

...Witness the beginning of a new.
a beginning where I am free.

Finally old enough
I spread my wings and leave
Walking, running, laughing
The world still beautiful
A gunshot echoes
The facade broken
A boy in a mask sprints
“Come on run!”
He shouts grabbing my arm
Adrenaline pumping I run
Excited
A new feeling I’m excited
So is he through
His smile shows in his eyes
We run until we get to an apartment
He leads me in a door
Panting he sits
“Vagabond, call me the Vagabond”
His voice small echoes through the room
I nod knowing that isn’t his name
“Dante”
I flinch
We’ve exchanged names now
Suit says I’m not supposed to do that
I’m supposed to say ‘Katherine’
“Inferi, I’ll call you Inferi”
His voice is crisp and sounds unused
I just nod in agreement
Now he is My Vagabond
And I’m still the little Inferi tagging behind
Still the small children we were in the beginning

Brexit and Trump
mass shootings
and bombs in
schools
mosques
churches
streets

These are things that happen
when people forget
how to
talk
to
each
other.