A moment of silence.
It’s a common thing
After a shooting
Or a bombing
Or a terrorist attack
Yet after being told to be silent
For just a moment
People seem to think
They should stay silent forever
And do nothing
To solve the problems
That caused this tragedy
“It’s too soon.”
“We need to be respectful to the fallen.”
“They have our thoughts and prayers”
It’s not too soon
Because if we don’t do something now
Then it will never happen
As the next tragedy comes along
Along with another moment of silence,
A moment of silence that does nothing
It does nothing to ban the guns that killed
It does nothing to catch those responsible
It does nothing to help the families recover
From losing a loved one
So yes, let us honor the victims
But not with a moment of silence
Let us honor them
By banning the gun that killed them
By increasing background checks
By making sure something like this
Will never happen again.
Let us honor them
By stopping the next attack
Before it happens again.