A Gun Won't Make You A Man
Location
I heard on the news the other morning that another child had been killed. And as I sat there listening to the emotionless reporter talk about his death I felt the tears roll down my cheek. All I could think was that he was so young, had so much life left in him, but someone felt they had to prove their manhood and pulled a trigger. Nevermind that innocent people stood near-by. Nevermind that the intended target wasn't there. Nevermind that bullets are blind and can't read braille, so it will never know who its target is. Nevermind that pulling the trigger will never make you a man only a coward to scared to face his problems head on. See when you use violence to solve problems you never get the answers you seek. Only families with funerals of dead loved ones, whose only crime was being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Parents left wondering why their child. Questioning God, turning their backs on Him. And friends left seeking revenge. So as the body count goes up the heartache pours out. But how quickly will that gun make you a man? I don't understand how you think you can play God and tell someone their fate with a single shot from your supossedly manhood. How can you find solance in your permanet solutions to tempoary problems. I will never understand how you can kill the innocent and still sleep at night. I pose this question to the witness, the friend riding shotgunwith you. How can you see someone get killed and never open your mouth to put his murder in jail? Put his parents at ease? Some unwritten rule that dictates our lives ' Don't Snitch'. But really I don't blame you because we were taught at an early age not to snitch. But still I grieve for that innocent life left breathless, that body left without a heartbeat. To quickly we are erasing our future before it is even written. To soon will our future be memories of what could have been. What should have been. So next time you pick up a gun to prove that you're a man know that real men don't have to pull triggers to solve their problems. Real men talk through their problems, but it seems we have a hard time solving our problems without the use of guns. Society has left us warped. Words make us punks. Guns make us men. But i could never kill you with my words,only bullets as they ring out from a gun.
Comments
Login or register to post a comment.
thisispoetryproject
Great poem! One that needs to be read (or heard) by the world. Have you ever thought about recording your Spoken Word? Since Spoken Word is written much differently than other poetry, it is meant to be read differently, or, even better, heard! If you record this poem, it will add so much more emotion to your words.
My favorite line:". To quickly we are erasing our future before it is even written. "
Hot Rod
another gun control person..... what happens when you get harassed by someone twice your size? Are you going to fight them? The only real solution to this is for everyone to have guns, to prevent others from shooting others.
Serina
I agree with everyone having guns if they know how to use them. The real issue that should be tackled is that people, especially young adults (11-26, in my opinion), should be taught that the world doesn't revolve around them and that there will be consequences for their actions. We, the american people, are not taking action and teaching our young people that there's consequences. We use the excuse "I'm a teenager it's normal to act irresponsibly!" or "Sense I'm a college student now I can get away with anything." No. We need to stop that line of thinking and the violence that's being commited by the younger generation, I am 17 so I'm talking about my generation, will slow down. There will always be violence but we can at least try to prevent some of it.
And then you have the older adults that just go shooting everybody up and they either have a mental problem (which the way we treat mental paitents is an outrage, we barely help them anymore other then send them home with a pill bottle...) or they just never learned how to be responsible.
marie
Hey "hot rod"--Power Poetry is here for all types of discourse but only respectful discourse. Be mindful of others on this site and help us make this a community where everyone feels safe to express their opinions.
ngphil22
Excellent Poem! This poem really got me thinking, and I meditated how all this violence could be brought to an end, as described by the massive wall of text below.
I support the Second Amendment and what it stands for. However, I also support reasonable solutions to dire issues, such as gun violence. It is a darn shame that these things happen, but it isn't the fault of the weapon, and I would even go so far as to say it isn't necessarily the fault of the person who pulled the trigger.
I think the real reason these things happen is that there seems to be a greater and greater lack of respect by individuals towards those around them. If a person lacks respect for their parents, and ultimately themselves, what incentive do they have to respect people that don't know and love them? I have seen where people hurt themselves and others when things do not go as they want them to. They have no respect whatsoever, and they lash out without remorse. Or, they hurt themselves to "punish" those around them.
I believe, personally, that a better upbringing is needed for the youth of today, not gun control, nor necessarily gun issuance (though, I do lean towards the latter, as studies have indicated that issuance laws, or those that encourage the open or concealed carry of firearms in public places, actually REDUCE gun-related violence. It may be a psychological tactic more than anything, as criminals would probably be less likely to try anything rash if they knew every person around them could respond against them). The whole deal with "not being allowed to spank a child" is a bit unheard of to me, but I see its effect as being negative. I see more and more children and adolescents who are completely ungrateful for what their parents or guardinas do for them. And I see mroe and more of them completely disrespect authority. Now, I don't support the idea of beating a child to within an inch of his or her life every time he or she slips up, but I do support some "attitude adjustments" from time to time. This is coming from a person who had quite a few "attitude adjustments" in his time!
Anyways, best of luck to you all in your writing (or speaking) endeavors!
-Phil
savigirl14
This is so powerfu
Charles Oppong Junior
Very well structured and arranged.