Poem
Maxine Beneba Clarke
Wolf pack
we have determined
he, and he alone,
is responsible
as best we can gather,
this one’s a lone wolf
his actions are not attached, or indicative,
to, or of,
any religion, ideology or group
it is impossible to ascertain who, or what,
may have made him like this
so far as we know
there was no immediate cause
of course
like the lone wolf
who wreaked blood-carnage
in a black church in charleston
a lone wolf
the butter-wouldn’t-melt bowl-cut blond boy
who introduced himself with a shy smile
at bible-study time
just before he opened fire
like the lone wolf
heavy-breathing as he hunted the halls
at marjory stoneman douglas high
who drew swastikas on gun magazines
before the worst upper-school massacre
of all united states time
a lone white wolf
killed hispanics this week, in el paso
a lone wolf
massacred muslims
in christchurch, last march
a lone white wolf
killed seventy-seven, on an island in norway
a lone wolf
shot up the synagogue, in pittsburgh
the lone white wolf
in london
vehicle-rammed the finsbury park mosque
these lone wolves,
they defy all sense,
analysis and logic
just who or what
could have made them this way
if only we knew
but they are lone wolves,
you understand
so we don’t see them coming
until after they do