"Loaded" by Patricia Monaghan

Poem of the Week:    Patricia Monaghan                                               Loaded   They were always taught that all guns were loaded. It was a way, he said, to keep them safe. Don't you notice, he said, how people get shot by pistols they think are unloaded? The gun on the living room shelf, the unhidden luger, the rack full of rifles: the children   knew each one was death. Now children, he'd ask, his hand on a gun, is this loaded? Mute chorus of yes. Mute yearning to hide. That was their home. At school they were safe even when textbooks talked about guns and described how the buffalo hunters would shoot   and buffalo crumple down dead, one shot enough to bring down the biggest. No child in that school had ever seen bison, gunned down or living, seen meat being loaded on travois by leather-clad scouts, safety bolts on their guns; no child had worn hides   or rode on the plains. But in history hid critical truths that they sought about shooting and fear and escape. Learn and be safe, history whispered its promise to children like them, learn and be safe. But a loaded gun holds only one promise. A gun,   any gun, threatens use of a gun no matter how they tried to hide in books, no matter how they loaded themselves down with schoolwork. A shot or two in the evening, then, children, he'd say, don't think the world's safe,   then he'd tell how once he had saved someone's life with that very gun over there on the wall and then children, he'd say, be prepared for the worst, never hide from attackers, they all deserve shooting, so all guns must always be loaded.   Even dreams weren't safe, for hiding in them were guns, aimed, ready to shoot. Even children know this: loading leads to unloading. -Patricia Monaghan  Used by permission. From Homefront (WordTech, 2005) Patricia Monaghan (1946-2012) died on November 11, 2012 in her Wisconsin home, Brigit Rest, in the arms of her beloved husband Michael McDermott. Homefront is a collection about the effect of war on veterans' return to their families and the damage to both. Patricia was a poet, scholar, spiritual pioneer and practitioner, activist, gardener and endlessly energetic creator.  Patricia co-founded the Black Earth Institute with Michael and recently co-founded the Association for the Study of Women and Mythology. The Institute is dedicated to artists serving the causes of inclusive spirituality, healing and protecting the earth and social justice. Patricia published over 20 books including many of poetry.  She was awarded a Pushcart Prize among many others. She was also an active supporter of Split This Rock.    Please feel free to forward Split This Rock Poem of the Weekwidely. We just ask you to include all of the information in this email, including this request. Thanks! If you are interested in reading past poems of the week, feel free to visit the blog archive.