Ibruprofening Violence, a Prose Poem by Michael Shoemaker

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”- Martin Luther King, Jr., "Letter from Birmingham City Jail"

It may be easiest not to discuss this.

Politicians would prefer headlines

that violence is decreasing,

at least in their area,

but what if violence is not decreasing

everywhere, always? What then?

A wall owned by a neighbor is found with graffiti, and the consensus is "Ah, at least nobody got hurt," but it is found out later that the graffiti was a notice for a gang fight where two people were gunned down the next day. What is ignored is the psychological violence to those in the neighborhood who are newly having trouble sleeping. They are wondering if they can leave graffiti and nobody does anything, what else can and will they do and when? Can we call graffiti art or can we call a handgun being fired art?

At a busy traffic and pedestrian intersection, nearly all cross the street against the signal light. The law is ignored, not obeyed, or enforced. The consensus is that the police can't pay attention to everything. However, what do we think on a dark day, when someone is hit crossing against the signal in this intersection, who is responsible? Does the view change if the person hit is a child coming home from school full of life, full of promise?

In a large city, police officers no longer come out for a call of breaking and entering, if nobody was hurt and the theft was not over a certain amount, the explanation given is that the police are underfunded and they have to prioritize calls to serious offences. Is not somebody invading hearth and home a serious offence that warrants protection and justice every time, for everyone? Is this unacceptable, or will the pain go away in 20 minutes, if we take this pill at once?

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Michael Shoemaker is an award-winning author, poet, haikuist, photographer, writer, editor, and  from Magna, Utah. He is the author of four poetry/photography collections, including Sky Mountain Rain Stars, a collection of short poems. (Kelsay Books, forthcoming 2026) His book, Sacred Strains of Praise is a 2025 ChristLit winner and a finalist for the 2026 Christian Indie Award, where the winner will be selected in March 2026. Michael’s works are found Boundless 2025 and 2024: The Journal of International Poetry Festival of the Rio Grande Valley, Tranquility: An Anthology of Haiku, Blue Lake Review, The High Window, and Poetry Pacific.