The Chair or the Chamber

Twenty-six killed, twenty injured
in a small rural Texas town,
Sunday morning during services
in a neighborhood church.

Six hundred four killed or injured
in a Las Vegas Nevada
country music concert
hotel window massacre.

Place names engraved for the wrong
reason in nation’s awareness stone:
Aurora and Columbine, Colorado;
Sandy Hook Elementary, Connecticut.

The unthinkable has become the norm
as those with the duty to protect
have absconded with the reelection fund
and abdicated behind closed doors.

I wonder how many people like me sit
in a restaurant or other public place
weighing mentally which chair is best
to hurl at the now expected gunman.