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Red Lake

Mickey J. Corrigan

Sage burns for the man
who lays siege to himself
two-day standoff
with his own father
a tribal police officer
ends with a gun
to his own sorry mouth
dirt’s greedy teeth
in the flesh of his rot.
Burning sage fills the air
eight years later
the big son in black
trench coat, eyeliner
shoots his grandfather
caretaker
trigger finger in his DNA
destiny in the cold dry ground.
The smell of sage fills his head
as he dons his grand-
father’s bullet-
proof vest,
takes the old man’s guns
drives the old man’s cruiser
through the rez
to the high school.
Sage, sage, fucking sage
he kills the security officer
shoots a teacher, students
metal-wrecked bodies
pile up, up, up
before his
hits the floor
Game Over.

On March 21, 2005, a troubled 16-year-old Native American boy who lived in Red Lake, Minnesota, went on 2 killing sprees on the Ojibwa reservation. He killed his grandfather, then took his vest, weapons, and police vehicle to the high school where he killed 7 people and wounded 5. After a shootout with the police, he killed himself in an empty classroom. His father had committed suicide in a similar manner following a 2-day standoff with the Red Lake Police.

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