"Not a Lone Wolf"

 Not a Lone Wolf

                        after Monica Hesse

 

I do not need to hear 

that he “snapped,” or “had a bad day” 

 

I do not need to hear 

that he was heartbroken 

 

I do not need to hear 

that he was a churchgoer

 

I do not need to hear 

how he struggled with “temptation”

 

Don’t even need to know his name, really

 

Don’t need to hear thoughts and prayers

 

Don’t need to read excerpts of a weird manifesto

 

I want to hear about systems that helped build
the shooter

 

––things he saw celebrated, things he saw excused 

 

people who he was taught have value,
people who he was taught have none. 

 

 

Extracts from Monica Hesse’s article “Things I do not ever need to hear or read about a shooter again,” The Washington Post March 19, 2021