UNDER THE GUN

Under the gun…everybody’s under the gun…presidents…rock stars…diplomats…nuns…everybody’s under the gun…Philippines…Mexico…Texas…Ohio…parking-lots…playgrounds…everybody’s under the gun

One day you may feel the fear anytime you hear a helicopter – helicopter – helicopter – helicopter – over your head…RUN…you’ll be under the gun

Europe is under the gun… Rio is under the gun…Western Sahara…Chad and Ethiopia…Uganda is under the gun.

Housewives…superstars…right wing death squads…boss on the job…everybody’s under the gun

Take a trip to the East the belly of the beast Iraq Iran dead babies in the sand…Turkey…Syria…Lebanon…Afghanistan…everybody’s under the gun

One day you may feel the terror of looking down the barrel of a semi-automatic bought at a gun show sponsored by a city…FREEZE…

Café Racer…Cascade Mall…Jewish Federation…everybody’s under the gun

Chicago…L.A…even little Santa Fe

Some day you may feel the terror of red lights…blue lights…sirens in the distance…HANDS UP…

Under the gun…everybody’s under the gun.

LITANY

The little violence

            grows

The murmur of violence

            grows

The unheeded violence

            grows

The common violence

            close to surface

            easily rendered

The everyday violence of language and gesture

The sharp words of friends, total strangers, or lovers

            out in a flash

            gone in a flash

            take lives of their own

            find strength with their own

The everyday violence

            grows

The little violence

            grows

Feeding on apathy

            dull consent

As etiquette, training, straight jackets

            break

And the violence grows

And the darkness grows

And we cry in our sleep

            scream in our dreams

            of violence

And look for a Jesus

            violence

Or look for a Ghandi

            violence

Or look for a King

            violence

Or look to ourselves

            and cry out a prayer

            beg for a light

To lead us through

            this darkness

            this violence.


HAVE MERCY ON US


Dearly Departed

I
humbly beseech you

Saints and Sinners

Pray for Us

we are barbarians and fools

ora pro nobis
dona nobis pacem
miserere nobis

Amen

(102 unarmed black victims of police shootings - 13 officers have been charged with crimes, 6 for one murder - the crimes have ranged from misdemeanors to murder.)

(photo credits - cartoon "Under the Gun"  www.cartoonmovement.com; "Litany"  businessinsider.com)