"The Shooter" A Poem for Another Day of Mourning

Mourners hold candles during a vigil at a makeshift memorial to mark

the weekend mass shooting at a gay bar, late Monday, Nov. 21, 2022,

in Colorado Springs, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

The litany of shootings continues. We've had school shootings like the one in Uvalde, Texas, a church shooting in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, and yesterday, another club shooting. I woke up way too early this morning and wrote another poem.

The Shooter

 

There is a shooter among us.

He steps in unexpectedly

to disrupt our equilibrium.

We create safe places

for ourselves –

        schools

        churches

        community bars.

We make a circle of belonging

where we can find the security

to be ourselves.

 

Then comes the shooter.

What discord does he bring?

(It's always a "he" isn't it?)

Why is he so off-kilter

that he cannot tolerate

someone else's circle of belonging?

Can he not recognize the sacredness

of a safe place

        to learn

        to pray

        to play

        to celebrate ourselves?

 

For the sake of the fallen,

For the sake of humanity,

For the sake of our longing for safe places,

We will never stop offering

our circles of belonging,

even if that circle (for now)

is the best place to weep.

                           

                            ~ Charles Kinnaird

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