Haven’t we learned by now that
friends don’t share weapons with friends?
If someone offers you a gun
to be their friend, don’t take it.
Insist upon whatever snack their
mother packed in their lunchbox that day.
Or, if you do take their gun, break it right away,
and then don’t apologize. Say, you’re welcome.
For no good can come
from sharing weapons.
If someone sends you a bomb in the mail with a note
that reads, “For your protection,” return it to sender.
They are not your friend. Chances are, they are only
using you for their own protection, as their weapon of choice.
For the bomb will go off. When it does, the tent
will go up in flames, the calcium from the bones
of the children mixing with the sulfur. Do not trust
the person who included instructions on how to light the fuse.
They are too far away now to care about the trouble
you have made for yourself. They never cared anyway.
Instead, make friends with those who now use their
firing pins for tractor parts, whose address is next door
to the three sisters who make cookies for
the whole neighborhood all night long,
listening for a knock at the door—
Rachel, still seeking consolation.
PleaseGrace 