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Remembering Sandy Hook, Ct 12/14/12
Over 8 Years Later
That day God’s Angels’ tears were shed,
When first grade books and blackboards bled
Pure blood that stained a beige room red.
Sad parents tuck ghosts into bed
Like precious dreams which now are dead.
This, I can’t get out of my head:
Such evil causing pain and dread.
One young boy, weak in mind, was led
To perpetrate a crime that fed
The devil’s hunger—“Satan’s Bread.”
His mind that never thoughtfully said:
“We’re all connected by a thread.”
His mind made children “things” instead,
Saw them as targets in his head,
Unleashing rage and lots of lead.
For us, these warnings must be read:
To tame that rage which seems widespread,
Learn compassion for all instead;
Too much, too much, too many dead,
So pray for grace, enough’s been said.
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Ed Gutt is a retired engineer living at the Jersey Shore.
Ed, so sad and so many parallels with our Manchester terror outrage of 2017 in England. These sickening events remind us of the fragility of life. “Sad parents tuck ghosts into bed” says so much. A most moving piece. Thank you.
Ed,
What a poignant poem. I watched from here in Canada as Obama had to address the nation, growing more defeated with each horrific announcement. Why is all I can say.
Thank you.
Sometimes we forget to remember.
Thanks for the poignant reminder, Ed.
Thank you for this poem.
Using justice to have unjust killing gone
How mind goes against his own.
How sad to think this happened.
Great poem of remembrance.
Ed, this is a tour-de-force memory with your own special stamp on it, as all 20 lines rhyme with your name. An appropriate way to express your investment in the tragedy.
I have a special memory of one brave father photographed in great agony as he learned that his daughter was among the dead. He was wearing a T-shirt at that horrid moment, but on Sunday he was back on TV live, dressed in coat and tie, honoring his little girl by showing photos of this eldest child in his family being a loving older sister. The point he wanted to make was that her life of just six years was of infinite value, and that she had spent it worthily. What a tribute!
I couldn’t stop weeping for the kids that day each time I looked at my own innocent toddlers. Thank you for writing, they deserve to be remembered, to never be forgotten.
Ed, Your plea for compassion is timely, even all these years later. We are still learning the value of human life. The image of us all strung together, “connected by a thread” resonates. Thanks for sharing this.
Thank you all for your comments. Also, thanks for the observation that my name rhymes with all twenty lines of this poem. Believe me that it was unintentional. I’m glad that an astute reader was able to pick up on that. It was difficult enough to communicate my thoughts while maintaining the rhyme and line structure of the poem.
Thanks again for everyone’s comments and observations
You are a poet and don’t know it. Rhyme