God Bless America

My beloved country.

A country of freedom, a country of peace, a country of love.

America.

A place where you can say your mind, speak freely, show the world what you’re made of!

Amen, America.

Where the people of all nations unite and live under one flag, one with hopeful stripes and stars.

God bless America!

Yet every state is smeared with the blood of innocents, the echoes of gunshots just background noise.

My beloved country. 

A place where practicing for lockdowns at school is normal, huddled silently in bathrooms.

America.

A new school shooting every morning, videos of frantic children screaming and running for their lives.

Amen, America.

Our politicians are too scared of backlash to speak up, God please, when will it stop?!

When will the desperate howls of lost ones stop?

When will the tidal wave of bullets rampaging down hallways stop?

Are we next?

Is my school, my life, my friends and siblings the next ones to crumple on the floor, riddled with holes?

God bless America. 

Gunshot

Gunshot

Deadly echo

Scream, gasp, total panic

Silence 

Common Sense 

If a gun fires in a school,

And no one chooses to hear

Does it even make

A sound?

School

Noun

An institution for educating children,

Not killing them. 

Ms. Paterson Said

Stay calm, Ms. Paterson said. 

You can’t outrun a bullet.

You can outthink a bullet.

But how can we think

If there’s a bullet in your 

Head?

School

Take away the backpacks,

Put bulletproof vests instead.

Strip away that curtain of safety,

Replace it with a thread.

Pencils for guns and paper for ammunition,

Teachers for soldiers and tables for protection.

Swap student rights for student deaths,

Parent smiles for parent sobs.

Words for a silencer, books for magazines and mobs.

And that, children

Is called

School