It Wasn`t

by Bob Sellon 9/9/2023

It wasn't an overdue sticker for my car
It wasn't road conditions, bald tires, black tar
It wasn't a swimming pool gate left unlocked
It wasn't a construction site left unblocked

It wasn't a sink hole, a flood or a fire
It wasn't the wind or a nail in a tire
It wasn't a hanging piano untethered
It wasn't a fastening rope that had weathered

It wasn't the snow or the wind or the rain
It wasn't from heart ache, depression or pain

It wasn't a faulty signal alert
It wasn't reaction to words on a shirt
It wasn't a worn out bolt that gave way
It wasn't erosion, the sun or decay

It wasn't a hero making fools of his fans
It wasn't unwashed lettuce, bad meat, dented cans
It wasn't a foul breath in my face
It wasn't an O-ring bound for space

It wasn't license fees, permits and fines
It wasn't paying for another man's crimes
It wasn't old age, it wasn't disease
a virus or cold, didn't float in the breeze

It wasn't safety, security or trust
It wasn't infidelity, deception or lust
It wasn't a dire warning unheeded
It wasn't a tainted senator unseated

It wasn't a loser who was barely defeated
It wasn't a winner, a campaign completed
It wasn't celebration of a victory won
It wasn't even the best kind of fun

It was the sound that ended a story
It was defeat, the absence of glory
It was a bell that can't be unrung
It was their songs that will never be sung

It was protection of the last resort for some
It was a thing, it was a fucking gun.