Parkland Haibun
What toll, dripping from his fingers? How does he sleep? Which truth
honored? The senator takes millions and offers prayers in lieu of action,
betraying the children, appeasing his benefactor. Seventeen chairs emptied
on this day, alone. He says nothing can be done, that laws are ineffective,
the shooting was “inexplicable.” What do his thoughts weigh? What griefs
will they bear? Can they reverse a bullet’s track or bring laughter back
to a family’s shattered life? Would any god answer this man’s prayers?
even the skunk balks
at Rubio’s empty words
ah, hypocrisy
O at the Edges 
Amen
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We live in strange times.
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“Would any god answer this man’s prayers?” That is a damn good question. The answer is the next school, and the next.
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I am so pissed at the disingenuous, NRA-fed responses. Do something, dammit. Do something!
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We should not begrudge them a little recompense; they are protecting our rights, maybe not our kids (they can’t do everything!), but our right to have what we want, our Greed….. which seems to take precedence over our morality, more and more. An eighteen year old can legally buy an AR-15 but not a beer; what does that say about us?
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Logic certainly doesn’t play into the equation. Greed has become our national religion.
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I trust there is a tipping point … afraid we have not yet reached it. I am encouraged by the Florida students’ outcry, which is being carried by students across the US. They will be voters in the near future – truly, I think our future is in their hands. “Mature” politicians are playing a power game they cannot win and refuse to abandon as “losers”. Gods work in mysterious ways … I look inward to find something constructive to come from all this polarization and violence – still looking, not recognizing any gems … hard to see much with so MANY skunks strutting about!
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The kids will be our salvation.
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One huge problem: many young people just don’t vote. “They’re all the same” they say. We need to figure out a way to get them engaged. They have a need for purity, I understand that, and it can be directed to good. But Al Gore would not have been George Bush, and Hillary Clinton most certainly would not have been Donald Trump. Would they have been perfect? I know it’s a hard lesson to learn, but that is not going to ever happen: the perfect person who is spotless and agrees with every single one of your ideas. But we can aim things in the right direction (and at the very least, keep from moving backward)…
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This latest incident seems to have awakened a segment of our population. Let’s hope this grows.
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Yes!
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most definitely.
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The NRA and its lackeys are quick to label any talk of gun control as an attack on the constitution. The NRA doesn’t care about the constitution. It cares about money.
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agreed
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No gods and for sure no goddesses…(K)
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So true.
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Masterfully stated, Robert. *sighs* When will they see that SOMETHING must be done?
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Thank you, Tre. Those, like Rubio who’ve been bought, have no empathy for people. They’ll act only in their best interests.
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Always. They always act in their best interests.
You’re very much welcome.
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I’d love to be proven wrong!
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In this day and age?! I’d probably die from surprise if it happened.
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Same here.
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I follow Rubio on twitter where he or some staffer constanstly post verses from the Bible. The hypocrisy is strong with this one.
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Oh boy, is it ever! Of course we have John Cornyn and Ted Cruz in this state…
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I follow Cornyn, but not Cruz. Cornyn is so smug. Another one I’d like to punch. I might need boxing lessons.
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I would pay to watch that!
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You shouldn’t have to write this poem. We shouldn’t be having any conversations about these calculated incidents, which can be so calculated because of the availability of fire power.
From across the pond, it’s just common sense as to what needs to happen. Doesn’t happen anywhere else because you can’t buy an automatic weapon at the same place you buy groceries. Alex Jones tried to compare our knife crime to gun crime, as if, were there no guns a student would be able to knife as many people as they shoot. Lunacy.
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Lunacy, indeed. Alex Jones is a despicable turd who happens to live in my city, thereby applying an additional pall and stench over this part of Texas. He used to be mildly entertaining. Now he’s …
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He is still very entertaining if only for his breathless ranting, but now he has a serious following he is far more dangerous. But you’re right, a turd of the most wretched order.
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He’s dangerous because people actually believe his rants, which I’d bet he doesn’t believe.
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Well i have to disagree there. I think he does. It makes it more crazy for me, because i think conspiracy nuts get to where they are not by lying but believing they have uncovered valuable, secret knowledge. They are just like religious people.
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Oh, I think Jones is a wily “entertainer” who will say anything for ratings. He’s gotten more outrageous over the years to drive his ratings up. He admits to playing a role on the radio.
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He admitted to lying?
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He admitted that his radio persona is not the same as his real life persona. I believe this was in court, at a child custody hearing.
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Hmm… interesting
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A turd that needs to be flushed!
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Yes, indeed!
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You’d hear his voice like a hornet nest cursing us as doomed because the last bastion of hope against the global cabal was up to his neck in faecal matter.
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Sounds about right, then he would immediately try to sell you his stupid supplements!
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O yeh. His 10 year bacon & coffee.
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So heartbreaking
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It is. Will voters come to their senses?
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Sad but great poem Robert…..no reversing of the bullet’s path nor the falling tears! As politicians continue to spout!
Dwight
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Thanks, Dwight. No end to stupidity and hyprocisy.
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You are right about that!
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Well said, Robert. I’m hoping this latest atrocity will be the straw that breaks the backs of the NRA’s arguments, power, and influence. (And the arguments of all those who think it’s fine for any citizen to own “machine” guns.) Unfortunately today’s youth were born into the era of mass shootings and they think it’s a normal hazard of life. They need to know it’s NOT normal, but a relatively new hazard – that innocent children can be killed at school. It’s something my generation and even my sons’ generation could never have imagined.
Thank you for this post, Robert.
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I would never have considered the possibility! But the NRA of today, Wayne LaPierre’s NRA, is not the NRA of yesterday. Now it’s all about selling weapons, and little about responsible use. The moral compass has disintegrated.
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A sign of the times in all areas. I’ve never been so afraid for this country.
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I never thought the populace would so willingly follow… It’s scary!
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Yes…but we mustn’t give up hope. It seems that consciousness is being raised little by little of late. If the media would just give more coverage to such things as the women’s march, we the people could inspire each other and change things….and get the younger generations interested and involved. Social media could become a positive tool rather than the addictive distracter it is now.
(…sigh….) That’s my hope, anyway. We’re at a crossroads and hopefully society will choose the high road.
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The students from Parkland are giving me hope.
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Yes, me too.
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So well said, Bob
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Thank you, Derrick. We are a fickle populace, but I remain optimistic.
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Yes, I agree. The GOP has definitely become the party of hypocrites.
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And it has worked for them!
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Yes.
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Hi Robert, sorry I forgot to ask for your permission first, but I’ve hastily posted a link to your powerful poem in Ann Koplow’s article today, “Tipping Point”. her site is The Year(s) Of Living Non-Judgmentally. I’m so hoping this is ok with you.
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Not a problem, Ivor. Feel free to link or reblog anything on my site. I’m always pleased when someone shares.
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Thank you Robert, for your generosity.
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You’re very welcome, Ivor.
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Ironically and poignantly, I’d written my poem “The Other Side Of Red White And Blue” the day before the shootings, over here in Australia we are astonished at how these incidents are allowed to continue without any attempts of corrective action.
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It is mind boggling, isn’t it? In short, the party in power has been bought and paid for by the gun lobby. They attempt to squash any sort of control, no matter how simple.
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It’s sad that money and power is put ahead of children’s lives. “have they no decency”
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No, they have no decency, and will do as their masters bid. Hence all of the “thoughts and prayers” messages coming from politicians who’ve been financed by the NRA. Cowards. All of them.
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I understand your strong feelings. I’m pleased our’s took action when they did.
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I live 2 miles south of Parkland, know many people who live there, shop and exercise there and do business with many of its residents. It’s too close to home and I’m still in shock. It makes me sick to my stomach that the local authorities and the FBI ignored time and again the signs and the numerous reports about this monster by numerous people. Now they want to investigate? Now they want “to get to the bottom of this?” Well, they might as well save their stupid efforts as they are 17 lives late. I am a very angry citizen right now.
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Perhaps this will be the tipping point. I’m so proud of the students and their unwillingness to be silenced.
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Your poem is a cry for sanity in a senseless, callous, compassionless, profit-driven culture. We like to quote the phrase “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness” as part of our National identity, even when our “right to bear arms” deprives so many those very same American ideals. And I am so sickened and weary of hearing the banal phrase “guns don’t kill people; people kill people” — purely, an abdication of responsibility.
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That phrase has always boggled my mind. Can you imagine saying “ballistic missiles don’t kill people, people do”? Idjuts.
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I’m so grateful for this post–my heart is sick with grief and anger both. God save us from the love of guns and money…and stupid, ineffective politicians and their love of “power” which they’ve left in a file cabinet somewhere.
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I am in awe of these young people taking action, and I despise those attempting to denigrate or tear them down.
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Yes, indeed, Robert.
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