Connecticut Cries

Connecticut cries today,
and all the country with her,
for graduations that will never come,
weddings, children of these children cut down
so young, never born.
And everyone with an opinion weaves their own
pet issue into rambling rhetoric
to support A Cause.Gun control, the obvious
use for this, a way to turn it into something
Meaningful. Out of tragedy, better laws. Or arm the teachers, as they do in war-torn nations, give a gunman pause before he
acts. Pro-lifers will weep as well for 20 dead, but marvel at
dry eyes for the millions whose lives are cut short
with scant notice and federal funding. Educators will want
better security, bigger budgets; law enforcement will
step up training, try to buy back more guns and get them
off the street. And 20 mothers and 20 dads will not
hear a word of it, numb in their grief. All they will see
are tiny coffins lowered into Connecticut soil
on which their children previously played.


(c) Ellen Gillette, 2012