An American tragedy
The days are gettin’ longer
Summer’s round the corner
Birdsong, plants and carnage,
School shooters on the rampage.
Troubled teens crave that feeling
Of power over innocents kneeling
Begging to be spared
The depredations of the impaired.
Another chorus of condemnation
Of Republican machinations
As Democrats gain traction
On gun violence and inaction.
Grief and anger fuel protests
Shaming gunmakers and their apologists,
And police who freeze when kids plead
As killers go about their heinous deeds.
A new low for a nation that puts guns
On a higher pedestal than its young ones
When men in blue fear for their lives
As fourth-graders are killed and brutalized.
But how do we tell our kids the story
Of what happened in Uvalde?
That they too could fall prey
To cowardice or ineptitude some day?