The Murders

Trigger Warning: mentions of death

There are wolves in the chamber of a gun,

a requiem prayer, unspooled yellow

police line, gawking neighbours behind

window blinds, nothing like this happens here,

their doorway sickly sweet, the salty

acetone of shotgun breath.

Flowerbed edges are straight like razors,

sheared hip high barber shop boxwoods,

front door agape, her body splayed, a treacly

heap, I remember her; a parent volunteer

leaning on a rake in the long jump pit,

visiting class, on every field trip, her job

as a crown lawyer, summer in the deep end

of the Lion’s Club pool, June’s blistering sun,

her daughter served buttercream cupcakes,

tangy, sweet, and creamy lemon.

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Gerald Arthur Moore is an adventurer, a part-time university lecturer, a high school teacher, and a rugby coach living in New Brunswick, Canada. NON-Publishing released his first book of poetry Shatter the Glass, Shards of Flame in 2018. His new book is Flak Jacket 2024.