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This maps the victims of gun violence: 1,445 nonfatal and 377 fatal shooting victims as of Oct 2, 2022. —Mapping Philadelphia's Gun Violence Crisis
Philadelphia—
more than a city of numbers
/ a city of names
from firsts—
home to the first library, hospital & botanical garden
to never quenched thirsts—
grills for infinite steak shops (Pat’s, Geno’s, Tony’s, Nick’s)
a city
of names & numbers
/ numbers & names
on the same day the mayor signed an order
for no more guns in the city’s
indoor and outdoor recreation centers
housed at the corner of numbered
streets, broad, & main
three teams met for a football scrimmage
dozens of players took the field
the temperature a beautiful seventy degrees.
Autumnal air. Hundreds of passes.
Countless yards gained.
Clocks ticked. Players walked.
The 6000 block of Ridge Avenue.
The 4700 block of Pechin Street.
Zip code 19128. Latitude
and longitude measures of degree.
Suddenly
Hundreds flee
five gunmen
sixty-four bullets
souls in school clothes drop
to date, in 2022
more than four hundred
Philadelphia-based lives lost
a tragic milestone man-made
a city
of names & numbers
/ numbers & names
all of these lives have names
Nicholas.Tiffany.Jose.Steven.
Jen Schneider is an educator who lives, writes, and works in small spaces throughout Pennsylvania. Recent works include A Collection of Recollections, Invisible Ink, On Habits & Habitats, and Blindfolds, Bruises, and Breakups.
