carol everett adams

two poems

Why Mall Shootings Happen

“But as she drove toward the exit…they became stuck behind a scrum of cars trying to do the same. That’s when she felt her car get hit twice by gunfire.” Texas mall massacre gunman identified as witnesses describe horror of the shooting spree that killed 8 people, CNN May 7, 2023

The problem is malls—pits dug in the grass of America.
No one considered tiny nests, or roly-poly bugs, hiding,

and the problem is shopping, us wanting things and more things
we don’t need, discontent like holes in our hearts, and the problem is

mothers, of course, yanking daughters from their toy rooms & Little Golden Books,
Farmer Adam Levels the Barn, and Fluffy Kitten Rips the Hamster in Two

and the problem is clearly cars—too many to let us leave in time,
and the problem is kids who couldn’t convince us.

Your Arm And I Went To Kitt Peak National Observatory

I save your arm for days
when I have no arms and do everything
with my teeth, tearing people, computers, cups
to bits, trying to get at the heart of things,

nebulae fleeing from the corner of my eye.
I use your feet to climb stairs
to the telescope. I let your legs
weigh straight and heavy on mine,

but soon they’ll be gone, so I save this too,
gaze up & out when the roof rolls back. Who knew
observatories groan like caves exhaling
when the pressure changes, when bats fly

at the greening of the sun. I’m convinced
every night we shake stalactites below,
innocent and armless, chewing air,
looking up, locking the door behind us.