America is a Gun by Brian Bilston
England is a cup of tea.
France, a wheel of ripened brie.
Greece, a short, squat olive tree.
America is a gun.
Brazil is football on the sand.
Argentina, Maradona’s hand.
Germany, an oompah band.
America is a gun.
Holland is a wooden shoe.
Hungary, a goulash stew.
Australia, a kangaroo.
America is a gun.
Japan is a thermal spring.
Scotland is a highland fling.
Oh, better to be anything
than America as a gun.
Response to Brian Bilston’s America is a Gun
“Bystanders killed by bullets not specifically intended for them have long been
a very small part of the homicide problem.” (Journal of Quantitative Criminology)
i.
Bystanders have been a small
part of homicide problem;
how dare they keep jumping in
front of those stray bullets.
ii.
America IS a gun.
Three hundred and twenty one
people are shot ev’ry day,
ninety unintentionally.
America IS a gun.
Some are only bystanders;
fathers, mothers, son, daughters,
grandfathers, and grandmothers.
America IS a gun.
Innocents shot while driving,
sitting, standing, and sleeping;
talking, visiting, and walking.
America IS a gun.
Others are shot while shopping,
at the movies, concerts, and
clubs, or while going to school.
America IS a gun.
We do nothing to fix this,
stymied while the next bullet
Flies at the next “untarget.”
iii.
Per one hundred thousand people,
eighteen countries suffer the loss
of half a person to shootings.
Then there's Chile; then there's US.*
*Institute for Health Metrics Evaluation
