WINTER WEATHER, MINNEAPOLIS, JANUARY 2026

by Kip Knott

Cartoon by Nick Anderson

US federal law enforcement officers on Saturday fatally shot an American citizen in Minneapolis for the second time in less than three weeks. Saturday morning’s killing of US citizen Alex Pretti, 37, comes after Renee Nicole Good, also a 37-year-old American citizen, was shot to death on 7 January by a federal immigration officer in Minneapolis, with video showing her trying to drive away from a confrontation, sparking protests nationwide. The Guardian, January 24, 2026

At first, I thought it was

ice pellets clinking

on the frozen pavement.

When I learned what it was,

I finally realized why

they call it a hail of bullets.

Kip Knott is a writer, poet, teacher, photographer, and part-time art dealer living in Ohio. His most recent book of poems, Rothko's Gospels, is available from Tiny Wren Publishing. 

BURNING CAR

by Kip Knott

“We are not an authoritarian nation where we 
silence people or squash dissent. But…”
          —President Biden addressing protests
              over the war in Gaza

Whether it rises 
from melting tires 
or devotional candles
or one child’s body 
or a million children’s bodies, 

smoke burns 
everyone’s eyes to tears
before it gathers 
as the clouds 
one faction uses

to construct 
their idea of Heaven
and another faction uses
to construct 
their idea of Hell.

Kip Knott is a writer, poet, teacher, photographer, and part-time art dealer living in Ohio. His most recent book of poetry, The Misanthrope in Moonlight, is available from Bottlecap Press.