DEATH Poem: Wine Tastings & School Shootings, by Brandon Losh

Isn’t it just awful, she
says.
They didn’t bring
the riesling or zinfandel

Red ropes race down the
faces of children
lying in literacy or
maths – it was Tuesday.

Did you hear
about that horrible
shooting? I can’t imagine –
I teach Montessori.

You’re right, I say, they
should have brought
more riesling.
The dry laughs fill

chalice and cup and
bowl and plate and
spoon and desk and
chair and body and and and

I’m a teacher
too. They tried to give me
a gun a few years ago. I
felt indignant about the idea.
About ruining a perfectly
good thing –

Wine is best served
in the absence of
children.