The remnants of yesterday still hang in the air
I put on my armor and pull up my hair
I unsheathe my knife, prep for the war
For what is a day without a new corpse?

Beware, Alice, of the rabbit hole,
and the creature that comes from beneath.
He'll call you to him before
he ever reveals his teeth.

The Red Queen may want your head
but the White Queen wants so much more.
Be careful what fruits you eat there;
they're all rotten at the core.

And once you're down the rabbit hole
you can never return.
No one will hear your cries for help;
you're left down there to burn.

So heed this warning well, my dear,
Please take a different path.
Watch every step you make
Or you will meet their wrath.

We’re screaming now.
Can you hear us?
Beating down doors.
Spikes through heads.

Not.

We rally.
We vigil.
We scream
Through the silence.

We’re together.
A united force.
You can’t take us down
With the names from before.

A knife through the heart
Will **** a man
But a knife through a wall
Is impossible

We stand for those
Who stand no more
Alyssa, Scott, Martin, Nicholas, Aaron, Jaime,
Chris, Luke, Cara, Gina, Joaquin, Alaina,
Meadow, Helena, Alex, Carmen, Peter

We sing when we speak of them
We scream when we speak of fate
Not fate
Not them

A brother, a sister, a daughter, a son
An uncle, an aunt, a nephew, a niece
Grandparents to come
Grandchildren once was
Never again

We fight against what killed them
And scream to you “No more”
In hopes that all our efforts won’t turn into a **** war
Again

Look right, look left, Look again
Close your eyes, Take a breath
Feel the wind and hear the birds
Feel everything not put into words

Enjoy it all while it lasts
A hidden place from demons of past
Savor this little, fleeting sight
Of what it’s like to feel the light

Ignore the darkness creeping close
The screeching demons, the worst of those
Close your eyes and pray to all
Put up all of your mental walls

See the demons through the cracks
Always aggressive in their attacks
Hide behind the barriers up
Hide until you decide you’ve had enough

Put down the walls, let them in
Feel the past come back again
A memory here, a memory there
Nightmares begin to feel the air

They steal your breath and choke you with lies
Watching with their bloodied eyes
Waiting for your break of will
Or even just your daily pill

You can’t hold up, this is the end
Strength has never been your friend

So,
look right, look left, look one last time
Close your eyes and say goodbye
You were doomed from the start
When your mind was torn apart

“Technology ruined them”

I find it funny
How you are the ones who raised us
Yet you scoff when we do things
The way we were taught

I find it funny how
“We don’t know real problems”
When we have to live, every day,
With the fear of being shot
At the place where our dreams are supposed to be made possible

I find it funny how
“This generation is lazy”
When you all were the ones who decided
To leave fixing your mess to us

“These kids ruined everything”
I find it funny how
You blame us for your problems
When we aren’t even old enough
To cause damage this deep

I find it funny how we’re “letting beliefs go”
When we’re just trying to lessen the hate
That was forced upon us at an age
When we were young enough
To just see people as people
And never anything less

I find it funny how
I “can’t possibly know anything”
When I dig to find the truth
And you settle for your news outlets
That sink their fangs into you
Like a vampire

I find it funny how
This country is always divided in half
Good and bad, right and wrong
The line’s blurred
With each side thinking they’re
The former
I find it funny how
We have money to fight war
But not to help our poor.
Money to fund big business
But never the mom and pop shop next door

And I find it funny how
No matter what I’m saying
I never get to finish
Because I’m “just a kid”
From the iGeneration

****, **** shrimp paninis
Fever sweats and Gatorade
Sick as heck and snotty-nosed
I see weird shapes in my eyes
Everything is shaking
This is a poem of creation
From the sweats of a fever
I am sick
And that’s okay
Because I have my Gatorade