By Mallory Nygard
Honorable Mention, Poetry, Create | Encounter 2022
How cruel
that I have to imagine
what exactly I would say
to the children
who would hide in my closet
if a man bent on death
and destruction
chooses our school
for his production.
When the lights are flashing
and the speakers are calling
out the final act,
I would close the door
behind me.
I would not let him
find an audience
among us.
I would hold their hands
so fiercely they would leave
with a mark.
“This is the most terrible thing,”
I have rehearsed, “and
you are not alone.”
I would stake the whole
of my life
and theirs
on the weight
of that “and”
Artist Statement:
Mallory Nygard lives and writes in East Tennessee. Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Relief: A Journal of Art and Faith, North Dakota Quarterly, Ekstasis, Amethyst Review, Pigeon Parade Quarterly, and Ever Eden Literary Journal. Her first collection of poetry, Pelican, was released in 2021.