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Killing America: Our United States of Ignorance, Fear, Bigotry, Violence and Greed is Reggie Marra's fourth book of poems. Marra sees, writes and shares with the reader verbal snapshots of his country's late 20th- and early 21st-century culture of violence as it manifests at home and abroad. On September 4, 2018 a copy of the book was mailed to each member of Congress, the Supreme Court and the President.Reviews"Killing America chills me, even after 25 years as a police officer and 15 years in counter-terrorism. We don't see all sides of the violence we fight against, and these poems take no sides. Reggie Marra exposes the pain felt by fellow humans, the challenges we face when we take sides, and the compassion we need to see each other's pain."- Christopher Rogers, Father, Husband, Retired Peace Officer and Bomb Technician"In Killing America, Reggie Marra gives us deep, disturbing images of War - at home and abroad. What I take with me, especially, are these lines from 'You Stood Up' - 'your open heart / exposed the mask / of fear your mind / mistook for you, / so you stood up / and no one got hurt.'"- Waverly Nall, Father"Reggie Marra's poetry is both raw and sobering, highlighting how violence changes everything it 'touches' either by design or by default....Violence exists on a spectrum: inter-personal violence on one end and collective violence (military combat) on the other. Each of us is responsible for the violence we commit anywhere on that spectrum."Marra's work also illuminates how elected officials focus on gaining and retaining political power...If these elected officials don't understand the nature of violence and its cultural implications, then their decisions (or indecision) will generate increased levels of unintended violence during their costly learning curve. The spectrum of violence can't be eliminated; it can be minimized if understood. This book helps us do that."- Bob Killackey, Marine Infantry Officer, Combat Veteran, Husband, Parent, and now Public High School Teacher"In Killing America, 'The Sniper' most resonates most with me, as it captures aspects of myself as a military officer (retired) and a parent. Reggie touched my soul as a basketball coach in my adolescence and continues to do so in my adult years."- Edwin G. Nall Sr., LTC(R), Father"What is the underside of the American dream?....[W]hat if the enemy is not from without, but within? What if America's drive toward a unifying and international vision of democracy has become an ongoing war to glean supremacy over those without power on both U.S. and foreign soil? What if the victims of such a war were measured in data points-soldiers, civilians, students, teachers, men, women, children, the occasional politician-rather than empathy?"Reggie's agonizing and precise language describes the carnage resulting from America's efforts to destabilize dictatorships in Iraq or terrorists in Afghanistan, while shining an unbearable light on the victims of a million American bullets, of children dead, communities ravaged, and families of color pillaged... And what if the collective response from a fatigued nation was merely a shrug, the deaths of human beings simply collateral damage in a quest not for the accessibility of the American dream, but rather for the ongoing accumulation of power and money? Reggie's vision is...a reveille to an apathetic American public who must rouse and feel and be damned if they will allow it to continue...."- Joan Hurley, 2008 Connecticut Teacher of the Year, Mother

FROM THE PUBLISHERReggie Marra's third volume of poetry, And Now, Still, in its depiction of family, loss, grief and resilience, carries forward the precise, direct and unflinching style that informed his poems on the consequences of war in This Open Eye (2006). This new volume juxtaposes humor, gentleness and a sense of redemption with the poet's eye for graphic beauty. Marra's poems and occasional journal entries invite us to share an intimate, ongoing healing narrative that is at once his, and at a deeper level, a story that belongs to all of us.REVIEWS"Openhearted, rich in detail, and wildly irreverent, Reggie Marra's And Now, Still celebrates the sacred everyday connections among the living, the dying, and the dead. This intimate moment, son holding father - 'I learn how heavy/ your living dead weight can be/ face to face, chest to chest' - is one example of the brave, unflinching nature of Marra's work."And from the title poem these lines - 'I feel etched stone's/ temporary permanence, / time, laughter, conversation, / ...first and final truth/ lost shinanklefoot, / ...two key turns, a silent sister' - reminding us that all emerges from and gives way to silence, the mysterious center point, this moment. And so the poet mourns and sings. Lyric to narrative, journal entry to rant, his layered language, its poetic intelligence, invites deeper presence. A generous collection that defies being boxed, this book is a healing journey offered by a kind, resilient, skillful and eloquent guide."-Janet E. Aalfs, author of Bird of a Thousand Eyes, founder & director of Lotus Peace Arts, http: //www.vwma.org/"When the soul needs to be fed or held, only music and poetry are capable. I have no idea if Reggie Marra sings or plays anything - but oh, the poetry."-Ian Percy, author, Going Deep: Exploring Spirituality in Life and Leadership"Reggie Marra's poetry speaks to me deeply of hope and joy, beautifully woven into the context of grief and loss. As a holistic nurse, reading Reggie's poetry reminds me of the humanity in every person. Through his life I see my life and the lives of the many patients I have touched. Reggie has the ability to gather precious moments and offer them as a gift to the reader. I recommend slowly sipping and savoring each word that it may touch and magnify your life."-Joanna Burgess-Stocks, BSN, RN, CWOCN, Patient Advocate