status quo

i. (locked)

guns will exist
as long as minds
conceive a means to an end

and security is sought
for its own sake
from a place
of “sturm und drang”

with bandoliers
of ammo slung over
slumped shoulders unable
to bear their own pathetic weight.

ii. (loaded)

we talk of rights
with barroom boldness
and only when expedient,

bullet points
of demographic data
as “talking” points
on power point presentations

while bought and sold
boardrooms calculate
the costs of their own indiscretion
and proudly soldier on.