‘Collective Nouns for Humans in the Wild’
— Reneé Bibby
Kathy Fish’s poem gutted me. It started making the rounds on social media just after the Texas shooting in the U.S. church, an incident that is as horrific for its scale as it is for its familiarity. A quick look at Jellyfish Review’s social media reflects the energy the poem is building. I’m happy to join the chorus. Because, like so many people in America, I am looking for sense. I am looking for the argument that convinces the stout and immoveable to give an inch. To cede some ground on an issue that boils down to the fundamental questions of who we will be as a nation. Maybe we can’t win on reasonable gun control, but maybe just maybe, we can cut through the bullshit and agree, as a nation, that if we say a man with a history of domestic violence should be allowed to have an AR-15, then we are also agreeing that a group of children, a gathering at a church, every human walking in our country is a target, and nowhere is safe.