Man with the Black Shirt

Sir, you sit, silent, reading a magazine,
your shoulders humped. Isolated
in a busy waiting room. Yet
the back of your t-shirt shouts,
"Tears don't affect my guns."

I gasp, and then wonder if the firmness
of your white-on-black printed
statement would hold if your son's chest
caught the first bullet in a school shooting.
Or, if an AR-15 exploded
your daughter's head at the mall.

Would you go home, dust your arsenal,
celebrate freedom to protect your anger?
Would your life be the same?
Tell me. Please.
What essential gifts
do your guns bring
to the world?