Contributor: J.K. Durick

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Empty, it’s ornamental at best
glossy, solid, a paperweight or
counterweight, a contraption
limited by our imaginations
hinting, yet hesitant, on its own
it seems undecided, cautious
tentative, timid to the touch,
but loaded it becomes itself
frames, identifies, disturbs
something to hold on to, point
at our enemies, our friends
at ourselves, the warmth of
certainty, of finality, an answer
ready for the many questions
we have asked ourselves, like
why, or for how long, or when
it manages time and place, creates
outcomes, punctuates lives, ends
misery, writes headlines, and
in the end, regardless of who pulls
the trigger and why, causes more
problems than it can ever solve.


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J. K. Durick is a writing teacher at the Community College of Vermont and an online writing tutor. His recent poems have appeared in Write Room, Black Mirror, Third Wednesday, Foliate Oak, and Orange Room.