Opening up my laptop,
the usual browsing and scrolling –
Click on the local news,
get hit with one word
that will continue to ring
in my ears for hours –
Seventeen.
Son.
Brother.
Friend.
Human.
A life once ablaze
with fervent vitality,
suddenly snuffed out
by violent impulsivity –
So much stretched out
before you,
so much that you
will never get to see –
But how much of
this godforsaken
town state country
actually cares?
Certainly not
the men that sit on
capitol hill,
pontificating about
good guys with guns,
as the NRA lines their
already bursting pockets –
What’s two more?
What’s two more
black kids,
to a nation that has let
so many go
without a fight?
How many more mothers
will have to bury
their sons?
How many more fathers
will have to kiss
their daughters goodbye?
Before we as a nation
learn to value life
over metal?
People fight so fiercely
for their right to bear arms,
yet remain so silent when
someone’s right to life
is taken away –
This story will remain
on the second page of
the local news for a
few days,
and then get lost to an
archive, the next scandal
taking its place –
And this nation will continue
to chant USA! USA!
Land of the free!
Home of the brave!
(never mind those boys & girls
prematurely in their graves)