Between the Shooters & Us

 We see barefoot girls hide
                                   in almond trees in the yard
                             & ready or not

 San Bernardino’s breaking
                                           news:   TV, mute:

               here is Fatima,      
                             acres of tract homes
               between the bullets:
                                                    here’s the kettle—
 whistling orange groves

                 down the block, as kids,
                                our neighbor jumping rope
 beside a yucca palm:

               whose idea
                            tied her up
               as she bawled
                                           who said stop?
               who wouldn’t?
                                           no more
 one-two
              -buckle-my-shoe:

              Fatima,
                          do you know
 my middle name
              or just the evening news?
                          Mute.
                                                 “Don’t burn yourself”
 she says:
                          three, four: 

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S.M. Ellis holds an MFA from New York University. Previous work has appeared in Paper Nautilus, Straylight Literary Review, Illuminations, Salamander, Columbia Journal, Iowa Review, and others.

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