Member Poem

this is a true story -- the names of people and places are changed for privacy

High school’s full of noises, but this didn’t sound the same
It took a moment to realize that this wasn’t just some game
Because after a few tense seconds, I began to hear the screams
I glanced outside, saw running and my heart dropped to my knees

Turns out it was just dumb kids with a firecracker and a garbage can
But I saw the lightning reaction: we didn’t think; just ran
In those heart-pounding minutes in a room behind locked doors
I thought, “What if my school’s the next with teenage blood spilled on the floors?”

I dreamt a while ago of an armed student in quad
Just the outside class I TA for full of freshman who I love
When I woke up, I started wond’ring how I’d save my friends
Are these things I should be thinking before my life even begins?

At practice after school, I overheard talk of a fight
Our sister school, McElliot, and someone had a knife
As students head home now, finish their homework, eat, and go to bed
A boy, my age, sixteen, is never going home again

And through the marches, conferences, I can’t help realizing
No matter all we try to do, we may not change a thing
This is just another symptom of a broken, fallen earth
And Ethan's another victim, a fate he didn't deserve

God, come soon; I just can’t bear to see any more dead
It’s hard enough on TV, but gets real when he knew your friends
God, I hate this violence, I feel like it never ends
But thank you for your promise that you’re coming back again