“Thoughts & prayers” — Mara Benowitz

I pray that the bullet that ends you

flies swiftly through your tender body

that your soul escapes before it’s

too severely scarred

I pray that your classmates

can sleep through the night terrors

that numbed memories and misfires

spare their molding minds

I pray that your tiny ghost

haunts the halls of the White House

that the sacred second amendment

is seared with your smiling face

I pray to every god

of light, and wisdom, and peace

that this prophecy

may perish in your place.