Vera Salter

MY SUMMER VACATION

I finished 4th grade in June and am
looking forward to 5th in September.
I will be in Mrs. Kuchinski's class
and she is making me write this essay.
Went to day camp in New Jersey for most
of the summer because my parents had to work.

Then we went on a family vacation to Arizona
to see the Grand Canyon, which was pretty.
The next day I wanted to go swimming, but Daddy wanted
me to learn how to defend myself.
So we went where children have fun on the range
and burgers too.
I got to shoot a spraying Uzi.

Something really bad happened.
I fired and all of a sudden the gun teacher was
on the ground. Mummy says it’s not my fault I killed him.


Elza Moore reads "My Summer Vacation":



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Vera confesses: "This poem was inspired by the August 2014 accidental shooting of a gun-range instructor by a nine year old girl."

VERA SALTER writes at the Hudson Valley Writers' Center in New York. She is retired from a career in health care administration, policy and advocacy. She grew up in England in a family of refugees from Europe. She has a PhD from the University of Pittsburgh.