when asked if, as a veteran teacher, I’ve gotten used to it
it says something that I no longer react to a story
of a masked gunman shooting up a school or
shooting up a church or shooting up a school
that is a church or a church within a school or
that a pew’s worth of children were shot in
a church-school or that a brace of children died
after being shot in a school-church or how a gunman
could take a coward-shot in a church parking lot
after marking the Mass in a first week of school.
it says something that I only wanted answers—
needed to investigate—a hero story of a boy
throwing himself onto a friend to shield him
from bullets exploding the stained glass of a church,
protecting him from the automatic fire piercing
school windows with stigmata. was he shot
in the back because he truly greater-loved a friend—
laid down his life to cover him? was he duck-duck-goose
diving to safety and landed into a space occupied
by a lap? or was he—simply, sadly—slugged
in the back, collapsing into a better story.
Matthew E. Henry is an educator, essayist, and the author of seven poetry collections, including the forthcoming Promises to Keep (Wayfarer Books, 2026). He’s editor-in-chief of The Weight Journal and nonfiction editor at Porcupine Literary. His publications include Massachusetts Review, Ploughshares, Terrain, The Worcester Review, and Zone 3. He earned an MFA, yet continued to spend money he didn’t have, completing an MA in theology and a PhD in education. He writes about education, race, religion, and burning oppressive systems to the ground. For additional information, visit www.MEHPoeting.com.
