A powerful call to end American gun violence from celebrated poets and those most impacted
Focused intensively on the crisis of gun violence in America, this volume brings together poems by dozens of our best-known poets, including Billy Collins, Patricia Smith, Natalie Diaz, Ocean Vuong, Danez Smith, Brenda Hillman, Natasha Threthewey, Robert Hass, Naomi Shihab Nye, Juan Felipe Herrera, Mark Doty, Rita Dove, and Yusef Komunyakaa.
Each poem is followed by a response from a gun violence prevention activist, political figure, survivor, or concerned individual, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jody Williams; Senator Christopher Murphy; Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts; survivors of the Columbine, Sandy Hook, Charleston Emmanuel AME, and Virginia Tech shootings; and Samaria Rice, mother of Tamir, and Lucy McBath, mother of Jordan Davis.
The result is a stunning collection of poems and prose that speaks directly to the heart and a persuasive and moving testament to the urgent need for gun control.

Foreword
Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords
and Captain Mark Kelly
Introduction: The Velocity of Language
Colum McCann
NICK ARNOLD
Jordan
Response from Lucy McBath
JIMMY SANTIAGO BACA
Morning Shooting
Response from Antonius Wiriadjaja
AZIZA BARNES
I Could Ask, But I Think They Use Tweezers
Response from Judi Richardson
REGINALD DWAYNE BETTS
When I Think of Tamir Rice While Driving
Response from Samaria Rice
RICHARD BLANCO
One Pulse—One Poem
Response from Ladd Everitt
TARA BRAY
How My Mother Died
Response from Dennis Henigan
JERICHO BROWN
Bullet Points
Response from Michael Skolnik
BRIAN CLEMENTS
22
Response from Po Kim Murray
BILLY COLLINS
Boy Shooting at a Statue
Response from Nicole Hockley
KYLE DARGAN
Natural Causes
Response from Daniel Webster
JOEL DIAS-PORTER
Wednesday Poem
Response from Kiki Leyba
NATALIE DIAZ
Catching Copper
Response from Rev. Henry Brown
MARK DOTY
In Two Seconds
Response from Pastor Michael McBride
RITA DOVE
Meditation at Fifty Yards, Moving Target
Response from Marie Delus
CORNELIUS EADY
Gun Poem
Response from Ronnie Mosley
MARTÍN ESPADA
Heal the Cracks in the Bell of the World
Response from David and Francine Wheeler
TARFIA FAIZULLAH
Aubade with Lemon and Sage
Response from Sharbari Ahmed
JAMESON FITZPATRICK
A Poem for Pulse
Response from Kevin Hertzog
NICK FLYNN
My Mother Contemplating Her Gun
Response from Ashlyn Melton
REBECCA MORGAN FRANK
Gunning for It
Response from Lt. Brian Thiem
ROSS GAY
The Bullet, in Its Hunger
Response from Dr. William V. Begg III
VANESSA GERMAN
[11 Gunshots]
Response from Camiella Williams
ROBERT HASS
Dancing
Response from Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Jody Williams
JUAN FELIPE HERRERA
Poem by Poem
Response from Rev. Sharon Risher
BOB HICOK
Throwing a Life Line
Response from Colin Goddard
BRENDA HILLMAN
The Family Sells the Family Gun
Response from Jennifer Mascia
JANE HIRSHFIELD
Those Who Cannot Act
Response from US Senator Chris Murphy, Connecticut
LEANNE HOW
Gatorland
Response from Amanda Gailey
MAJOR JACKSON
Ferguson
Response from Amber Goodwin
MICHAEL KLEIN
The Talking Day
Response from Monte Frank
YUSEF KOMUNYAKAA
Shotguns
Response from DeAndra Yates
DANA LEVIN
Instructions for Stopping
Response from Kate Ranta
ADA LIMÓN
The Leash
Response from Caren Teves
DEBRA MARQUART
Kablooey is the Sound You’ll Hear
Response from Jacob and Darchel Mohler
JAMAAL MAY
The Gun Joke
Response from Dan Gross
JILL MCDONOUGH
Afraid
Response from Kim Parker Russell
WAYNE MILLER
Ballad (American, 21st Century)
Response from Lee Keylock
CAROL MUSKE-DUKES
Gun Control: A Triptych
Response from Donna Dees-Thomases
JACK MYERS
In the Dark
Response from Khary Penebaker
NAOMI SHIHAB NYE
To Jamyla Bolden of Ferguson, Missouri
Response from Missouri State Rep. Stacey Newman
MATTHEW OLZMANN
Letter Beginning with Two Lines by Czesław Miłosz
Response from Shannon Watts
MEGHAN PRIVITELLO
[When a child hears gunshots]
Response from Abbey Clements
DEAN RADER
Self-Portrait in Charleston, Orlando
Response from Joe Quint
ROGER REEVES
Maggot Therapy
Response from Yvonne Crasso
LIZ ROSENBERG
The First Child Martyr at Illinois Elementary
Response from Patricia Maisch
DANEZ SMITH
the bullet was a girl
Response from Rev. Michael L. Pfleger
PATRICIA SMITH
Undertaker
Response from Pamela Bosley
CHRISTOPHER SOTO
All the Dead Boys Look Like Me
Response from John Grauwiler
TESS TAYLOR
Memory with Handgun and Tetherball
Response from Renan Salgado
ALEXANDRA TEAGUE
Repeater
Response from Iran Nazario
NATASHA TRETHEWEY
Articulation
Response from Eddie Weingart
OCEAN VUONG
Always & Forever
Response from Clai Lasher-Sommers
AFAA MICHAEL WEAVER
Something It’s Taken Thirty Years to Write
Response from Dr. Leana S. Wen
ROBERT WRIGLEY
Kalashnikov Candelabrum
Response from Jessica Pollack Mindich
Our Gratitude
Credits
Contributors

Introduction by Colum McCann; Edited by Brian Clements, Alexandra Teague, and Dean Rader