PoetrySociety, Power & Modern Life

Don’t Mention Guns Today: Innocence Lost by the Crimson Line

By 16 February 2018August 5th, 2026No Comments1 min read
American children on a school bus with a look of trepidation on their faces.

don’t mention guns today

A short poem about children facing school security and lockdown drills, exposing the loss of innocence and the fear surrounding America’s gun culture.


she steps over the crimson line
security guard swipes her
with metal detector.

tiny fingers retrieve
flowery pink pencil case
and her peers skip along

the narrow corridor
submerging into the classroom
where the history teacher

sits at the whiteboard.
resistant door clunked shut
and sealed them in.

An abstract image depicting a red line, a shadowy security figure with a metal detector, and silhouetted children.

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