BEND IN THE RIVER

I am an alumni of Umpqua Community College in Roseburg Oregon. I spent many hours in Snyder Hall and this poem is a reflection of my thoughts and feelings regarding the event.

Author's Note

When the smoke clears
Will the sun shine again?
When the echoes of gunfire fade
Will the swallows return to us?
Will they once again dance
With the updrafts rising from the Umpqua?

Sacred space
Cradled in the bend of the river
Quiet, serene—safe place to play-to learn
A joyful peace ruled here
One fragment untouched by the insanity
Shattered like brittle crystal

In fifteen minutes—not even a cosmic blink
Everything changed
With the crazed twitch of a finger
A soulless digit seeking destruction
Releasing its vileness here
Blood on tile, blood on cement
Blood splattered on the jagged shards
Of broken dreams

Where was the wall to keep it out
To deny access to its vile sickness?
It should have been barred from here

When the smoke clears
Will the sun shine again?
When the echoes of gunfire fade
Will the swallows return to us?
Will they once again dance
With the updrafts rising from the Umpqua?
Will we ever again know innocence?

Reviews

[Gee]

Beautifully written.From the outside looking in it seems the right to bear arms is far more important than life itself.I feel sorry for Obama as he is banging his head against an unbreakable brick wall,and all that is going to happen is all and sundry will arm themselves and a return to the wild west will materialise.Have a great Sunday

[Samuel Dickens]

I'm very, very sorry this unspeakable horror has visited your peaceful corner of the world. Once again, an evil, sick-minded individual has taken innocent lives and caused incalculable damage. What kind of society have we become that people will yawn and say ,"Oh, well. Another one"? It's going to happen again and again and again, and each time, the murderer will most likely not be using a deer rifle. Jared Laughner had 30 round clips for his 9mm, and was finally stopped when he expended one and tried to change. The Aurora shooter had a 100 round drum on his assault rifle, plus thousands of rounds of armor-piercing bullets he'd ordered online. Are Americans stupid, or do they just not care? I grew up with guns and hunting, and still have the single shot .22 and 12 gauge that I used to hunt with. Any discussion about ending this madness has to include guns.