Survivor, by Gerry Moohr

The Survivor (Le Survivant), by Rene Magritte (Belgium) 1950

Survivor
 
A long rifle leans against a gold wall-papered wall
in an elegant hallway, muzzle among flowers.
 
             Red-brown blood pools around the buttstock.
 
A Belgian Mauser, circa 1888, veteran of
two world wars, waits in silence.
 
             Blood stains the trigger and barrel.
 
First to come, orphans and women in black, some
in Red Cross aprons gasp at memory, step hurriedly away.
 
             Whose blood is this? Is the blood old or new? Dry or wet?
 
Men and boys felled in battle in blood-stained,
earth-stained uniforms gather round. Some spit on the rifle.
 
             Does the circle of blood grow larger? 
 
Veterans stand longer, mulling the maiming
and killing some so others may live.
 
            The rifle, sorry, sheds bloody tears.
           
Children murdered at Sandy Hook, Parkland High,
Uvalde, crowd the room. Hundreds of victims
stand with them, want to know
 
             How could you let rifles move into movie theatres, 
             music festivals, supermarkets, box stores, dance clubs,
             churches, and synagogues?
 
and
 
             What are you going to do about it?
​
Gerry Moohr
​
Gerry Moohr’s writing blend experience and imagination, not always equally. Her hybrids have appeared in Cagibi, Equinox, The Maine Review, and elsewhere. Moohr lives in Houston and Minneapolis and is online at www.gerrymoohr.com.