Good Thing I Got My Career

Michael Brautigan

 

gun shots ringing out in the night

I didn’t even remember the most

recent episode

my father brought it up the next day

it had been especially loud and violent

multiple shots in rapid succession

yes, people in the ghetto are armed

my guess is that it was a drug hit

I didn’t even hear any sirens after

it wasn’t on the news

now I’m remembering a while back

a man walked into the Starbucks

down the street with a shotgun

and pointed it at two cops

but as it turned out the man

had no intention of actually

shooting them

it was an attempted suicide

the cops chased him into the street

and shot him multiple times

but he survived and was acquitted

the shotgun hadn’t been loaded

his infant son had just killed himself

playing with a loaded gun

that day