17 Deaths

Note: I wrote this piece to honor those who lost their lives in Parkland, Florida on February 14^th, 2018.

17 Deaths

What do you do with pain?
Where do you place it in your soul
Are you one to let it sit inside you
Sifting through your heavy heart

Or do you rise with it
Caress its frothed and silent wave
Let it move you
Let it pull you into its rushing waters
An anchor too heavy

I know not what is best
But I know what I have done
Brought it within me
Into my mind
Let it sing songs of mourning
A siren

Will pain bring about a bitterness
Life’s cruel joke – a reflection
Of another man’s sorrow
Now your own

Or does it bring a harsh wisdom
Empower you to stand tall
Amidst the darkness
To become a lighthouse in this storm
A warning
A calling

We had no chance to change their fate
They had no choice in those moments
When their lives were cut short

Some were heroes
Some almost survived
All were too young

Where will you place this pain?
In the hidden corners of your soul
Forgotten

Or into the makings
Of a safer world
A world
Where their deaths are not in vain
Where children can learn and not be afraid
Where “never again” will mean
Something true

This time.

Photo: I took this photo in August 2016 at Acadia National Park, while on a hike along the coastline.