Monday, October 2, 2017

Death By AR15




Aurora 

Is that the humming of a god or a fallen angel that he hears? 
There is so much white noise that it is deafening.
It comes in waves.
As he sits in the courtroom,
his hair dyed red and orange, his mind wanders.
He is not dreaming. He is wide awake.

He sees things no one else sees.
He heard sirens
wailing months before the killing.
He saw pools of blood at his feet.
He saw birds trapped in a cave with no way out.
(Schizophrenia is a diagnosis but not an explanation.)

A woman holds a white rose and prays for the dead,
others join her,
their heads bowed in sorrow.
A newborn baby is placed on his father's belly.
He does not know his child is there.
He is in a coma.

There is a bandage over his eye where the bullet
entered his brain.
A ventilator helps him breathe.
He does not know that twelve died
in the back of theater nine.
He does not know how the movie ended.

Is that the humming of a god or a fallen angel that we hear?
There is so much white noise that it is deafening.
It comes in waves.
Our minds wander. We are not dreaming.
We are wide awake.
We see things that no one should ever see.




Advent 2012 (Newtown Connecticut)

The silhouette of a paper angel is projected on the wall.
The world is full of tinsel and sorrow.
We walk with wands of light in our hands, candles for the dead.

When I was six years old I heard the news that the president
had been shot, that JFK was dead
but I didn't have to face the death of my twin.

We teach our children to say their prayers
before they go to sleep 
but how can we prepare them for this?

The Westboro Baptist Church threatens to picket the funerals.
They are not followers of Christ.
They do not mourn.

The silhouette of a paper angel is projected on the wall.
The world is full of tinsel and sorrow.
We walk with wands of light in our hands, candles for the dead.  




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