On a cold winter morning,

I went to school like any other day

I was in fifth grade

I wasn’t scared to go to school

School is school 

You go there to learn

There should never be a reason to be scared of the place

Where you learn about the world and all the things in it

When my mom picked me up,

She was crying

My mom only cries if there’s a reason to

She told me 20 kids even younger than me died that day in a shooting at a place called Sandy- Hook Elementary School

She told me that it could have been me

She told me that she was so happy to see me

Now, that’s the thing about the world and all the things in it

It’s not always good

At ten years old, I didn’t realize that I could die in a place like school

I thought you had to be old

Or get in a car accident

Or be anywhere but in a place for learning

A place for recess

Or a place for friends

I should not have been scared to go to school the next day

Nevertheless, I was

I was scared to go to school

School is school

You go there to learn

Not to die