Man’s power has always been great,
yet so has indifference.
When halos head hollow bodies,
it’s tragic, part of being human.
(93-Michael O’Daniel)
Indifference.
Bullets fly that have no names—
it’s tragic being human.
Bodies drop, lie six feet below.
(94-Epiphany Collins)
Bullets fly that have no names
I pray for my city because it’s not the same
Bodies drop six feet below
People are dead because the way bullets flow
(95-Alisha Thurman)
I pray for my city because it’s not the same.
Mamma’s cry screaming her son nowhere near the scene.
People are dead because the way bullets flow
Her son lies cold . . . why so deep?
(96-Johntrell Mullen)
Mamma’s cry screaming her son nowhere the scene.
They caught him down bad stretched out in jeans.
Her son lies cold . . . so deep.
His mamma thought he was in school, but he was the streets.
(97-Joseph Young)
They caught him down bad stretched out in jeans
Bullets holes in his body watch him bleed
His mamma thought he was in school but really the streets
Life could have been taken so fast without even a blink
(98-Johnel Owens)
Bullets holes in his body watch him bleed,
Tried to go to the police and start singing.
Life could have been taken so fast without even a blink,
He went to jail and turned to the beast in these streets.
(99-Eric Owens)
Tried to go to the police and start singing
Dropped out of school start slinging
He went to jail and turned to the beast
There are guns in the streets, there will never be peace.
(100-James Lofton)
Chris Green is the author of four books of poetry: The Sky Over Walgreens, Epiphany School, Résumé, and Everywhere West (Mayapple Press, 2019). His poetry has appeared in such publications as Poetry, The New York Times, Court Green, and Prairie Schooner. He’s a founding editor of Big Shoulders Books whose mission is to disseminate, free of charge, quality works of writing by and about Chicagoans whose voices might not otherwise be shared. He’s edited four anthologies including I Remember: Chicago Veterans of War and American Gun: A Poem by 100 Chicagoans (Big Shoulders Books, 2020). He teaches in the English Department at DePaul University. More information can be found at www.chrisgreenpoetry.com.
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