21 Gun Salute

Abstract

draconian–adj 1. red, in flurried spray. 2. there is penance in this, a reward equally brawn; a pistol as big as yours. 3. all attica behind your sword, like hammurabi before him; them before you. 4. creaking of my mother’s stiff back, slit; still chasing this american dream. 5. brazen commitment to stay daydreamer. easier to herd the sheep.– noun 6. a fourth degree burning, charred black; your body an ember, your hands, face, calves, chest: coal. 7. from draco: a northern dragon swinging in constellation; the breathing back in flame; it’s all red, anyway. 8. union, pedagogue, social servant: bullet. 9. blood. 10. (used with object) bloodfight. 11. prisons are obsolete. are more valuable than schools. are indicative of values. 12. the man guillotined be the same man who invented it; there is no irony in that. -verb 13. to accost your reasoning; to be the same idea you seek to destroy. 14. to sever the state by way of dismissing the people. 15. to bleed, it’s all red anyway. 16. to read the news. say some things don’t change. 17. must think we crazy, some demon must’ve caught us dreaming. again. 18. to falsely attribute; pruneface reagan is legend, eyesore, icon—would’ve probably not been your friend. probably not been red. 19. to wonder which nerd kills school. 20. to chew the idea of rebellion, gather the pitchfork from the barn, solder these beliefs in the alloy. 21. to chance a sleeping wolf ’s food; run when his bite sounds sharper than his bark. to blood let for blood shed, it’s coming.