Sep 2018
The cries I never had to hear
ring in my head;
keep my heart heavy.
Cries of loved ones;
cries of lost ones.
Gunshots ring louder.
Voices grow quieter.
Faces become shadows.
Lights once flickering bright,
fade into the night.
We scroll quickly with mindless fingers
while they fade like distant memories.
Faces to be forgotten.
Until it happens,
again.
No time to mourn.
I fade into an abyss
of news and media
filled with violence;
an abyss called hopelessness.
We disappear
into its darkness
together.
ring in my head;
keep my heart heavy.
Cries of loved ones;
cries of lost ones.
Gunshots ring louder.
Voices grow quieter.
Faces become shadows.
Lights once flickering bright,
fade into the night.
We scroll quickly with mindless fingers
while they fade like distant memories.
Faces to be forgotten.
Until it happens,
again.
No time to mourn.
I fade into an abyss
of news and media
filled with violence;
an abyss called hopelessness.
We disappear
into its darkness
together.
This piece came from the numbness I felt in reading about all of the shootings that had been done this year. I was overwhelmed and wanted to take time to mourn but even trying to do that was overwhelming. I believe that real change can happen but, there are times when you just feel paralyzed. This poem doesn’t have to only apply to shootings in the U.S. but can be related to any systematic acts of violence in the world. I hope that those who read this won’t feel alone in their numbness and know that it’s okay to feel this way.
