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Elizabeth S. Wolf has published six books, including the Rattle chapbook Did You Know? Her latest book is a braided poetry collection, Parenting in the Age of Columbine. Her work appears in many journals and anthologies, including Rattle, ONE ART, The Strategic Poet, and Ibbetson Street, and is archived on the moon in the Lunar Codex. Elizabeth has received four Pushcart nominations and is featured in the April 2026 issue of Boston Literary Magazine.

The Turning

Elizabeth S. Wolf

Sandy Hook Elementary School December 14, 2012

On the day the babies died
President Obama said to hug your children
And he cried.

On the day the babies died
My baby was in middle school,
Working as an intern at the
After School Program for grades
K- 6. When she arrived at work
Teachers were crying. They had
Twenty minutes to get ready.

That afternoon the school was in
Lockdown: Adult supervisors at the
Outside doors, college staff in the
Hallways, interns in a ring around the
Little kids, all gathered together
Inside a cleared- out cafeteria;
My 13-year-old’s body
The last barrier between
These babies
And a bullet.

18 and Overseas

My daughter was taking a gap year at the time of the Parkland shooting. My daughter split her senior year of high school between community college classes and an internship working with the homeless; she spent Fridays and Saturdays serving sandwiches in the park and dinner at a café.  My daughter bodysurfed at emo/screamo concerts. She sometimes said yes and sometimes said no. My daughter is 5’7” with vibrant dyed hair and a wolf tattooed on her left bicep. Her father is an addict and spent time in jail; her mother is a protester who writes poetry. On Valentine’s Day 2018 my daughter was an au pair in China, getting a 4-year-old to school on a motorbike through Shanghai morning rush hour. My daughter planned to go from there to volunteer at an orphanage in Accra Ghana. People asked me, do you think that she is safe? and I clapped back, honestly, do you think she is safe here?

freckle-faced boys
with AR-15s
American as apple pie

— Elizabeth S. Wolf

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