Poem: Morning Shots

It’s 3am, I’m doing homework

while gunshots ring out around me

ain't nothing new

I’ve been hearing em since preteens

Only difference is I’m not in South Central

I’m in Southeast D.C.

Seeking clarity to write

While mourning those lost in the streets

Today I logged on to not one but three RIPs

Count em up while I’m scrollin’

its all a repetitive bad dream

I log off to imagine a reality

Where war isn’t present

Knowing death is normal

but this cycle isn’t.

Jacqueline "Jay Cali" Jackson