30 Rounds of 5.56.

this is a piece about nuance.
because it isn’t enough to scream about what’s wrong.
you gotta talk about what’s right, even if it feels wrong.

memorial day, 2026.

---

this one is for the ones
who never got
to take off the uniform
and it's for them i write this.

i'd still be able to write
silly,
angry,
funny,
mad little poems,

with or without
the sacrifice
because i eat,
shit,
and sleep,
on the land that allows
me to do so.

here's the whole point,
okay?

August 26, 2021,
hundreds of thousands
of civilians
trapped by a corrupt
government.

so many lives saved,
by the following names:

David Espinoza, (20 years old)
Nicole Gee, (23 years old)
Darin Hoover, (31 years old)
Ryan Knauss, (23 years old)
Hunter Lopez, (22 years old)
Rylee McCollum, (20 years old)
Dylan Merola, (20 years old)
Kareem Nikoui, (20 years old)
Johanny Rosario, (25 years old)
Humberto Sanchez, (22 years old)
Jared Schmitz, (20 years old)
Maxton Soviak, (22 years old)
Daegan Page, (23 years old)

they’re gone
and i'm still here
and you are too
Big Macs
and sequels
or not.

rage today
and burn it all down tomorrow
or don't.

some might think
it doesn't matter
and they're probably right.

what's different over there
after
all
the bodies,
the blood,
the loss.

look here
here at home
what's different here anyway?

if they couldn't
change anything
with
30 rounds of
5.56…

what can you do?

---

more angry than i want to be,
TCB