The Rifle

The Rifle
by Jacob Harty
(based on the book, The Rifle, by Gary Paulsen)

The beautiful rifle
Made with such care
The cursed rifle
Made for doom and despair
Sold to a man
A hunter he said
Joined a war with his gun
Fought hard and long, but in the end he was dead
Took the rifle she did
Stored it in her attic
Little did she know
It would do something quite dramatic
It waited all those years
Waited to get out
Sold to a man, and on Christmas the unfired round killed the next neighbor
That boy died without a shout