Click clack went her heels,
When she tried to hurry inside.
Splish Splash went all the drinks,
When she pushed the waiter aside.

“Did you hear, did you hear?”
She said, her breath catching up with her.
“Oh dear, what happened,”
Said Mrs. Ellsworth, whilst brushing her fur.

“Diana Cowden, queen of the pies,
Was found dead in her yard.
Oh lord oh lord, the worst’s yet to come,
The bake-off is in a week, how could she die?”

“Yes sweetheart, her death is all about you,”
Said Lady Brownlowe in a calming, soothing tone.
“Please tell us how it happened, how did she die.”
“And skip the gory details, I don’t want to get ***** on my ****.”

The crowd screeched to a halt,
As Mrs. Thornberry prepared herself for the story.
There was pin-drop silence in the room,
Except for Mrs. Ackerman, who was hungry, really not her fault.

“A gunshot wound to her head,
Rake marks across her face.
The poor darling, she couldn’t get away from it all,
Her family, such a disgrace.”

“It still isn’t clear how it all happened,
No signs of struggle, no pain at all.
It’s as if she knew what was coming,
Such a brave heart, and such a fall.”

It still isn’t clear who tried to **** the brave soul,
The police is just as dumbfounded.
Her office’s a mess and so is the kitchen,
Her yard was all clean, except the portion where she was found dead.

“Still, who could have committed, such an atrocity?”
Said Lady Brownlowe, tears welling up in her eyes.
“We were such good friends, we had picnic plans in May,”
Said Mrs. Ackerman, her mouth, stuffed with pie.

“Was anything taken from the office?”
Asked Mrs. Ellsworth, finally opening up.
“It’s strange that you ask that, it really is.
Her prized recipe for Butterscotch Custard has now gone with the wind.”

“She cherished the recipe,
And kept it so close to the heart.
I’d hate for something bad to happen to her,
Even more for her recipes.”

“She was known for being the most charismatic baker,
Her book full of secrets.
A fallen comrade, a fallen hero.
Now, a moment of silence, let’s pay our respects.”

As everyone bowed their heads in respect,
Two heads stayed still.
One with a mysterious smirk,
The other one, scared of smirk, gave out a scream so shrill.

“What’s wrong Betty, is everything okay?”
Asked Lady Brownlowe, stroking Mrs. Thornberry’s hair.
Filled with fear she looked around the room,
The murderer she thought who was gone, stood right over there.

She took her index finger and brushed it over her lips,
A silent “Shush” came out, and then she left.
“Nothing, nothing” shouted out Mrs. Thornberry,
“I must’ve seen a spider, a big menacing one.”

“It’s alright, calm down.” Mrs. Ackerman said,
“There’s no need to worry, they waiters have readied their brooms.”
Lady Brownlowe sat back and smiled,
“Well, at least we know who’ll win this time.”

“Susan? Susan where’d you go”
The cries had started to echo.
“Oh wait,” said Mrs. Ackerman, “don’t you remember?”
“Mr. Ellsworth is coming back home from Westchester!

I am scared!
Scared of this world

Robert Godwin Sr
Alyssa Elsman

How many more have to die?
By my kind,
By their kind,
Because they blame some other kind
What ever happened to just being
kind?

Daniel Parmertor, Russell King, Jr., Demetrius Hewlin

Where were you when the World Trade Center went down?
It’s something everyone alive then will always remember
Never Forget! was our brand motto for American Pride

Krystle Marie Campbell, Lü Lingzi, Martin William Richard, Sean A. Collier, Dennis Simmonds

And now, the death of another is so commonplace
That we forget what and where.
It’s no longer personal enough to register where in our lives that it struck us
Only note that another life has been struck down
Add another tally to the equation
And still it does not add up

Trayvon Martin
Tamir Rice
Samuel DuBose
Delrawn Small
Philando Castile
Terence Crutcher
Heather Heyer

We are completely desensitized
And decentralized
We keep ourselves disconnected
(because we just can’t absorb,
Take,
Process it all)
It’s not us
It’s not me
It’s somebody else
Somewhere else.
Until it is
Then we care
How much can we take, before we break

Cynthia Marie Graham Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lee Lance, Depayne Middleton Doctor, Clementa C. Pinckney, Tywanza Sanders, Daniel Simmons, Sharonda Coleman Singleton, Myra Thompson

The tragedy is the comedy
We laugh so we don’t cry
Sakia Gunn
Richie Phillips
Nireah Johnson, Brandie Coleman
Glenn Kopitske
Scotty Joe Weaver
Jason Gage
Michael Sandy
Sean William Kennedy
Duanna Johnson
Lawrence "Larry" King
Angie Zapata
Lateisha Green
****** August Provost, III
Mark Carson

I can’t say I’ve never thought of committing violence.
Hell, when my ex-wife cheated, it occurred to me
And I can’t say that I have never hit another
I’ve been a kid
My whole life is designed just to grow up
But, I’ve thought of killing myself far more often than the thought to harm anyone else have ever occurred to me
Because my problems are mine;
My fault,
And I am not seeking some scapegoat

Keenya Cook, Jerry Taylor, Million A. Woldemariam, Claudine Parker, Hong Im Ballenge, James Martin, James L. Buchanan, Premkumar Walekar, Sarah Ramos, Lori Ann Lewis-Rivera, Pascal Charlot, Dean Harold Meyers, Kenneth Bridges, Linda Franklin née Moore, Jeffrey Hopper, Conrad Johnson, 1 unnamed victim

I am not going to deny that being a white male hasn’t allowed me to sidestep a whole level of *******
One day, angry white males will be the minority
And we’ll have no one left to blame, but ourselves.
If we don’t **** everyone first
If we don’t **** ourselves first

Michael Arnold, Martin Bodrog, Arthur Daniels, Sylvia Frasier, Kathy Gaarde, John Roger Johnson, Mary Francis Knight, Frank Kohler, Vishnu Pandit, Kenneth Bernard Proctor, Gerald Read, Richard Michael Ridgell

Jonathan Blunk, Alexander J. Boik , Jesse Childress, Gordon Cowden,
Jessica Ghawi, John Larimer, Matt McQuinn, Micayla Medek, Veronica Moser Sullivan, Alex Sullivan, Alexander C. Teves, Rebecca Wingo

The earth has already decided that we are a plague upon it
Maybe climate change is the natural response to the abuse of our gifts

Nancy Lanza, Rachel D'Avino, Dawn Hochsprung, Anne Marie Murphy,
Lauren Rousseau, Mary Sherlach, Victoria Leigh Soto, Charlotte Bacon, Daniel Barden, Olivia Engel, Josephine Gay, Dylan Hockley, Madeleine Hsu, Catherine Hubbard, Chase Kowalski, Jesse Lewis, Ana Márquez Greene, James Mattioli, Grace McDonnell, Emilie Parker, Jack Pinto, Noah Pozner, Caroline Previdi, Jessica Rekos, Avielle Richman, Benjamin Wheeler, Allison Wyatt

What is this world going to teach my son?
That he’s better because of how he looks?
Or what I’ve taught him:
You make yourself better.

Jamie Bishop, Jocelyne Couture Nowak, Kevin Granata, Liviu Librescu,  P
G. V. Loganathan, Ross Alameddine, Brian Bluhm, Ryan Clark, Austin Cloyd, Daniel Perez Cueva, Matthew Gwaltney, Caitlin Hammaren, Jeremy Herbstritt, Rachael Hill, Emily Hilscher, Matthew La Porte, Jarrett Lane, Henry Lee, Partahi Lumbantoruan, Lauren McCain, Daniel O'Neil, Juan Ortiz, Minal Panchal, Erin Peterson, Michael Pohle Jr., Julia Pryde, Mary Karen Read, Reema Samaha, Waleed Shaalan, Leslie Sherman, Maxine Turner, Nicole White

I work as a data analyst
So, I ran the numbers
But, these are more than numbers
These are people: sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, friends, lovers.

Stanley Almodovar III, Amanda Alvear, Oscar A. Aracena Montero, Rodolfo Ayala Ayala, Alejandro Barrios Martinez, Martin Benitez Torres, Antonio D. Brown, Darryl R. Burt II, Jonathan A. Camuy Vega, Angel L. Candelario Padro, Simon A. Carrillo Fernandez, Juan Chevez Martinez, Luis D. Conde, Cory J. Connell, Tevin E. Crosby, Franky J. DeJesus Velazquez, Deonka D. Drayton, Mercedez M. Flores, Juan R. Guerrero, Peter O. Gonzalez Cruz, Paul T. Henry, Frank Hernandez, Miguel A. Honorato, Javier Jorge Reyes, Jason B. Josaphat, Eddie J. Justice, Anthony L. Laureano Disla, Christopher A. Leinonen, Brenda L. Marquez McCool, Jean C. Mendez Perez, Akyra Monet Murray, Kimberly Morris, Jean C. Nives Rodriguez, Luis O. Ocasio Capo, Geraldo A. Ortiz Jimenez, Eric I. Ortiz Rivera, Joel Rayon Paniagua, Enrique L. Rios Jr., Juan P. Rivera Velazquez, Yilmary Rodriguez Solivan, Christopher J. Sanfeliz, Xavier E. Serrano Rosado, Gilberto R. Silva Menendez, Edward Sotomayor Jr., Shane E. Tomlinson, Leroy Valentin Fernandez, Luis S. Vielma, Luis D. Wilson Leon, Jerald A. Wright

I did research to try to find all the victims since I became abruptly aware 16 years ago
There are too many
I could not discover a single database that contained a comprehensive record
No one can keep track of it anymore
I know I’ve missed people
I know there are 1000’s of people now missing people
Even 1 was too much

Hannah Ahlers, Heather Alvarado, Dorene Anderson, Carrie Barnette, Jack Beaton, Steve Berger, Candice Bowers, Denise Salmon Burditus, Sandra Casey, Andrea Castilla, Denise Cohen, Austin Davis, Virginia Day Jr, Christiana Duarte, Stacee Etcheber, Brian Fraser, Keri Galvan,  Dana Gardner, Angela Gomez, Rocio Guillen Rocha, Charleston Hartfield,  Chris Hazencomb, Jennifer Irvine, Nicol Kimura, Jessica Klymchuk, Carly Kreibaum, Rhonda LeRocque, Victor Link, Jordan McIldoon, Kelsey Meadows, Calla Medig, James ‘Sonny’ Melton, Pati Mestas, Austin Meyer, Adrian Murfitt, Rachael Parker, Jennifer Parks, Carrie Parsons, Lisa Patterson,  John Phippen, Melissa Ramirez, Jordyn Rivera, Quinton Robbins, Cameron Robinson, Lisa Romero Muniz, Christopher Roybal, Brett Schwanbeck, Bailey Schweitzer, Laura Shipp, Erick Silva, Susan Smith, Tara Roe Smith, Brennan Stewart, Derrick ‘Bo’ Taylor, Neysa Tonks, Michelle Vo, Kurt Von Tillow, Bill Wolfe Jr.

and NOW I’ve run out of lines and time to read off all 2,977 people who died in 9-11
Isn’t that a tragedy?

Why...

By: Madisyn Cowden

In memory of Franco Cesana


Why was my life ruined

Why were we taken here

Why do they hate us

Why did I have to miss my Bar Mitzvah

Why am I losing hope

Why can’t I be happy

Why are they killing us

Why are they full of hatred

Why can’t I just be a kid

Why can’t I go to school

Why am I despised….

Is it because I'm jewish

Is it because I lost my father when I was young

Is it because you don't believe what I’m passionate about

Is it because you think everyone has to be the same

Is it because i'm different

I have worked so hard for you

I made your ammunition

I helped you

But

You took me away from my family

You murdered my friends and family

All I hear is gunshots

Falling to my knees

I am dying, it is hard to breathe

What is this feeling

Is it hope...

Is it thankfulness…

Is it happiness…

Is it sadness…

No, no none of these

It was forgiveness?

No no no that can’t be right

But it was, I felt forgiveness

And then it became dark

I see nothing….

Then I knew I had died

I died not having a childhood