This is a serious poem. I wrote this
free verse poem shortly after the incident, and in Memory of the Sandy Hook Elementary School killings. It was
a horrible event that has brought up so many important issues, such as
gun control and mental illness.
Made
in Heaven
It’s
hard to believe
our
tags show
‘Made
in Heaven’
when
we’re nowhere
near
the same.
Me—a young child,
a
life ahead,
fell
and perished
by
the hands of
a
hater.
Me—a
class teacher
a
bucket list
I
should achieve,
murdered
in cold
blood
by hate.
Me—an
official
loving
my job
and
family,
had
it taken
by disturbed hate.
‘Made
in Heaven’—I
do
believe you
were
not what HE
had
in mind when
HE
gave life.
Was
the pain and hate
too
great that you
made
your mom a
casualty
of
your
assault?
Or
did you kill her
so
she wouldn’t
see
shocking acts
that
her son would
carry
out?
Is
that the price the
rest
of the world
pays
for all the
ill, loners,
bullied,
turned
rancid?
Your
legacy in
life,
a monster
in
disguise, is
only
what we’ll
remember.
Until
someone else
feels
the same way
as
you, and sums
up
the price of
human
life.
It’s
not my right to
judge
or question
even
though my
life
was cut short
of
its time.
For
now, I will sleep
with
the angels
and
pray for the
world
and loved ones
left
behind.
Children and Killings,
And
hope that they know
I’m
forever
safe—and
wait since
we
were all ‘Made
in Heaven’.Children and Killings,
Bea
This was both poignant and heartbreaking. It's also tragic that we'll glamorize the name of any mass killer, which means that the next one will always want to outdo the last.
ReplyDeleteVery true. Others will want their 15 minutes of fame and their name remembered.
DeleteThe pain of lives cut short bears a terrible price. The living are left to face the consequenes of those who lash out in hate and desperation.
ReplyDeleteAnd there always seems to be another one around the corner.
DeleteChoosing a child for the speaker of the poem makes it so powerful, and then I start thinking what would an entire series of poems on the same subject come across if written with multiple speakers involved with the shootings?
ReplyDelete...talking to survivors and incorporating their experiences written as small Ballads, creating an Epic.
DeleteThis is so raw & honest in your unanswered questions. I was devastated about Sandy Hook. I never even thought about composing poetry as a way to help cope. I'm mesmerized by your title and how it ties into the whole poem. Thank you for this perspective.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Barb. I think poetry is a great outlet for expressing happiness and pain, even if you don't want to share it with others. It's just a way of getting it out.
DeleteA discussion on Facebook regarding everything being 'Made in China' prompted the title.