ISSN: 1941-4137
POETRY THAT ENACTS THE ARTISTIC AND CREATIVE PURITY OF GLASS
POETRY THAT ENACTS THE ARTISTIC AND CREATIVE PURITY OF GLASS
Brendan Gillett is lost in his desk somewhere.
Poets Resist
Edited by Kolleen Carney Hoepfner
May 6, 2018
Edited by Kolleen Carney Hoepfner
May 6, 2018
Reasons That I, a Teacher,
Should Not Have a Gun
In My Classroom
Should Not Have a Gun
In My Classroom
1. There are children in my classroom.
2. There are children in my classroom.
3. I don’t want a gun in my classroom.
4. Sometimes, I put down a marker
midsentence and then spend the next
five minutes looking for it while adlibbing to
make it look like I know what I’m doing.
point being, I can’t keep track of things,
but a marker can’t shoot anyone.
5. I need more markers, so spend money
on those, thanks.
6. The most secure place in my classroom
is a cabinet with a shitty combo lock
on it, and that’s where I keep the Nintendos
because Goldeneye is the closest thing
to a gun that is allowed in my classroom.
7. My desk is such a mess that even a gun
could get lost there.
8. A gun never stays lost for long.
9. In tactical terms, leaving supplies
in a convenient location making them easy
to access later is called a dead drop.
Putting a gun in my classroom would create
a cache like this because I’m not a good shot,
so after I dropped from taking the first bullet
a shooter could simply pick up the gun
from my dead hands and turn it back
on my students.
10. There are students in my classroom.
11. My room is already overflowing with books
full of ideas and knowledge which make it clear
that giving guns to teachers is, like, not a good idea.
12. My classroom is supposed to be a safe space.
13. I have suicidal students.
14. A gun never stays lost for long.
15. Some of my students came from war zones.
Some of them grew up in education systems that use
corporal punishment.
Some of them have difficult home lives.
Some live on rough blocks.
School is supposed to be the antithesis of all that.
16. I’m not a math teacher, but I definitely understand
that, statistically speaking,
having a gun on hand increases the
likelihood of a gun-related injury.
17. A gun is designed to kill people.
18. A gun is designed to kill people.
19. There are people in my classroom.
20. A gun never stays lost for long;
at some point it has to
go off.
Poets Resist is published by Glass Poetry Press.
All contents © the author.
All contents © the author.
