After the El Paso Walmart shooting
Rudy said
The only difference between a garden
and a graveyard
is what you choose to put in the ground.
I heard a human went to Walmart to buy seeds
Their goal to plant a garden
they did not choose to be the thing put in the ground,
but they are now a graveyard
planted with bullets we grow
indifferent over time
Over time we glorify the killing
and over time we become the slaughter
Any cage put the stem in systemic
No wonder we can't get to the root of the problem
during World War II
We used to plant Victory Gardens for our country
that planted Victory graveyards overseas
Children pushing daisies before they could bud
our country continues to bloom.
I heard
a man went to Walmart to buy bullets
their goal to plant a graveyard
They did not choose to be the thing put in the ground
But they are now
a garden
they are still alive
planted with steel seeds
we grow indifferent over time.
This is what it is to put a petal into metal
and pick shell casings blowing in the wind
We don't choose where they put in the ground
with the seeds scatter is if coming from a shotgun
I'm afraid my body is full of fertilizer
and some crazed gardener
might try to make the grass grow
Is my skin
soil in my breath a sign of harvest
What kind of crop is casket
why do they crop our lifespans and wonder
why we complain about the monoculture
the only difference between a garden in a graveyard
are seeds of hope and seeds of doubt.
I and we're walking flower pot that hopes to never sprout
I pray no one ever empties a clip of seeds into my earth
I birth no tragedies
I flourish but never flower
but never flowered, but never flower.
I heard a bullet went to Walmart to buy bullets
Their goal to plant a bullet
they did not choose to be the bullet
put in the body, but they are now a garden
Planted like the American flag
a true child of this country
We grow in different gardens
but all return to earth too soon
the circle of life gets smaller and smaller
until it becomes a bullet point
We don't choose before you put in the ground
But it won't be the white boy who planted us
It won't be the white boy who gave him the seeds
It won't be the culture
It won't be the country
but the White House lawn
has never
been greener
You
