APs, PSATs, ACTs, fill-in-the-blank here’s
We are the children of one fateful year.
The babies of Bethel, Pearl, and Paducah,
The toddling tots of AK, PA, OR, and CO.
We grew without the towers,
the ash still wavered as we learned
That we wouldn’t, couldn’t fly.
Yet here we are now, the troublemakers,
rule-breakers, risk-takers
The havers of sweet jubilees.
The cynics, the skeptics, the wary:
We are aware
Of a cacophony of facts, dates, and others you-must-know
That one news story follows another
Close to home, in lands far, far away
The same caustic mark
On our young, old souls
That jerk at the names, too harsh to bear
The thought of what was lost
And what was gained.
So here we sit in vapid lockdown
For some “credible threat”
Some whimper, Some giggle
Others text
All wonder -
Are we ?


--The Victims of Bethel, Pearl, Paducah, Jonesboro, Edinboro, Springfield, Littleton, Conyers, Fort Gibson, Mount Morris, Lake Worth, Fayetteville, Santee, El Cajon, Manhattan, Grundy, Tucson, New Orleans, Red Lion, Cleveland, Cold Spring, East Greenbush, Florhan Park, Randallstown, Red Lake, Jacksboro, Reno, Essex, Hillsborough, Bailey, Cazenovia, Nickel Mines, Tacoma, Midland, Greensboro, Seattle, Blacksburg, Dover, Cleveland Baton Rouge, Memphis, Knoxville, Detroit, Conway, Ft. Lauderdale, Dearborn, Hampton, Covina, Middletown, Canandaigua, Cambridge, Larose, San Bruno, Atlanta, Antioch, Woodbridge, Madison, Huntsville, Littleton, Tacoma, Columbus, Belleville, Austin, Salinas, Elizabeth City, Carlsbad, Marinette, Omaha, Martinsville, Houston, San Jose, Pearl City, Fayetteville, Blacksburg, Walpole, Chardon, Oakland, Perry Hall, Normal, Stillwater, Newtown, Taft, Harris County, Orlando, Cambridge, Santa Monica, Decatur, and the many others before and beyond us