Michael Steffen
Congressional Math
If a Hi-Point 995 Carbine fires a ten-round clip,
and there's thirteen mags in a student's backpack,
how many funerals can he author between now
and high time, how many bloodstained manifestos?
If a shooter sprays nine semi-automatic
rounds per second into a frantic crowd
at a music concert in Vegas, and it takes him
only three seconds to swap out a mag,
with sixteen hundred rounds and a real good aim,
how many mothers will he drape over coffins,
how many fathers, husbands, wives?
If an AR-15 fires five rounds in an eyeblink,
and there's twenty children to a classroom,
how many teddy bears and cut flowers will it take
to cover the cyclone fence at Robb Elementary?
Take all the time you need. Show your work.
Bio
Michael Steffen's fourth collection of poems, Blood Narrative, was published in 2021 by Main Street Rag Press. New work has recently appeared, or will appear soon, in Book of Matches, The Chaffin Journal and Literary Cocktail Magazine. Michael is an MFA graduate from Vermont College and currently lives in Buffalo, NY.