The Bullet Takes Forever is a collection of poems facing “America’s culture of mass shootings.” The poems range from processing a mother's personal experiences with active shooter situations to philosophical, psychological, and linguistic explorations of gun violence. At turns yearning, vulnerable, and fierce, this collection resonates with readers who feel the effects of rising gun violence and the need for increased safety measures. Poems from this collection won the Plaza Prose Poetry 2024 Prize and the Poetry Super Highway 2023 Prize, and were also chosen as a finalist for the ESWA Crossroads Contest 2024. 

 

I'm so happy to be included in the group of talented writers at Mouthfeel Press, where part of their mission is to promote social and personal transformation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"With calculated precision and considered framing, this book examines not only the sources of gun violence, but the weight of the damage, and the emotions required to both mend and heal these too frequent wounds. The Bullet Takes Forever calls its readers to recognize the humanity we risk losing by accepting these events as ordinary."

—S.C. Says, author of Golden Brown Skin

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"There’s an urgency in these poems that could only have been written by a poet and a mother. These poems are powerful and poignant and sadly so damn necessary. This collection shook me to my core."

—Joaquín Zihuatanejo, author of Occupy Whiteness and Arsonist

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"The book showcases the depth of the author’s commitment to a clearer and more human future where love can emerge as our salvation value. One of the most stunning and effective works of art in any medium I’ve experienced that speaks to a social crisis."

—Jeffrey Bryant, author of The Catacombs of Vanished Lovers

 

"Beauty and horror coexist in Heidi Kasa’s The Bullet Takes Forever, as she juxtaposes luminous imagery with the gloom and stark reality of pervasive gun violence. Kasa's deft command of poetics lures the reader by guiding the eye and heart through the seesaw of loss and hope to persevere."

—Stalina Emmanuelle Villarreal, author of Watcha

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"This book seeks to break through silence and taboo, to ask Why can’t we be safe? 'What about the children?' "

—Hollie Hardy, author of Lions Like Us and How to Take a Bullet: And Other Survival Poems​​​​