My daughter stomps
on the bubble wrap
from the box my books came in
and it is loud, like gunshots
and my son doesn't like the noise
and neither do I
but I let her do it
because it makes her happy
and it's over so fast we can forget
and move on
we're running late anyway
and in a rush to get in the car
and when we are safely
inside and moving
I ask them if they know
why May 4 is important
and they do not
so I ask
if they have heard of
Kent State
and they have not,
so I tell them of the war in Vietnam
and the protests across America
and the one in Ohio
that drew the national guard
to a college campus
and the shots that rang out
and the four students shot dead  
and my children don't say anything
so I say they need to remember
Kent State
so maybe it won't happen again
and my son says that it will happen
and he seems sure of it
but calm
and soon I'm dropping him off
at his high school
and then my daughter
at her elementary school
where active shooter drills
are common enough to be boring
and angry young men everywhere
keep guns at the ready
for their special purpose
on a day maybe determined
but not yet revealed
as the birds sing
and the sun shines
and the world goes around
and around and around
like it does
with nothing new to say