THE RAVEN REVIEW
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  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • Contributors
    • Support Us
  • Submit
  • Current Issue
  • Archive
    • Volume I >
      • Issue I
      • Issue II
      • Issue III
      • Issue IV
    • Volume II >
      • Issue I
      • Issue II
      • Issue III
      • Issue IV
    • Volume III >
      • Issue I
      • Issue II
      • Issue III
      • Issue IV
    • Volume IV >
      • Issue I
      • Issue II
      • Issue III
      • Issue IV
    • Volume V >
      • Issue I
      • Issue II
      • Issue III
      • Issue IV
    • Volume VI >
      • Issue I
      • Issue II

The Way the World Is

by Robert S. King
—after the mass murders of 8/3/2019

​The death of Joe
may not cause a tear in God’s eye
or mean much to whoever designed us.
The slaughter of Jane means little
to the stars and may not send a ripple
through the fabric of deep space,
but the empty space in someone’s living room
means the world.

Robert S. King lives in Athens, GA, where he serves on the board of FutureCycle Press and edits the literary journal, Good Works Review. His poems have appeared in hundreds of magazines, including Atlanta Review, California Quarterly, Chariton Review, Hollins Critic, Kenyon Review, Main Street Rag, Midwest Quarterly, Negative Capability, Southern Poetry Review, and Spoon River Poetry Review. He has published eight poetry collections, most recently "Diary of the Last Person on Earth," "Developing a Photograph of God," and "Messages from Multiverses." Visit him at www.robertsking.info.