I have no words
There can be no words for pain
Grief
Loss of that, of those, who never should have been in danger.
I should have words
maybe tomorrow I might have pretty metaphors
but not today.

Today I have moved to rage, ugly rage
skipping all the steps (like denial)

Again should not be used to describe a school shooting
Another should not be used to describe a school shooting
And we most certainly should not have enough to rank them

Straight to rage
My neighbors, they VOTED for this
They were so scared of losing their hunting rifles
They were so scared of women controlling their own bodies
They VOTED for this
and I can’t help wondering
if this will be one more thing to destroy public education
helping more people vote against their own interests
and for the interests
of oil companies
of big pharma
of the NRA

“We have no money for teacher pay”
“We have no money for books, for tech”
So let’s buy everyone Kevlar,
So let’s buy everyone more guns
The message is so clear–
It’s better to make the right people rich
than to educate.

basically everyone
except a ten-year-old now dead
whose last action was calling for help for her friends.

I do not want to hear
the thoughts and prayers
of elected officials
of my neighbors who voted for this
who believe the right to have a personal armory
supersedes the right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness
I do not want to hear one word about
the right to life
from you who voted for this.
You are not pro-life.
You are not.

Okay, maybe I did have a few words.