An adversarial relationship ...

Granpappy always said
she should learn to shoot a pistol
though he never shot a living thing himself,
and never meant
for her to go off
half-cocked,
ready for action,
primed for battle
whenever she heard
those fatal words:
"You should"
-- or worse yet,
"Ya shoulda" --
as if she'd ever had
any choice in the matter --
that trigger got pulled
the minute she was born.


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