For the Children of Sandy Hook

I live in a great, wide open land

At the other end of the earth,

But the TV News and the Devil’s views

Are beamed to my own home hearth,

And often I think to turn my head

As the joy of life’s undone,

Back in that great democracy

At the point of a loaded gun.

 

We learnt our lesson and banned all weapons

When we took time to choose,

After a madman ran amok,

So why don’t you do it too?

For now the parents are bent in grief

For their lost young daughters and sons,

I couldn’t do anything else but weep,

Please God, get rid of the guns!

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Van]

hah... I really doubt that the world can get rid of all its firearms now that they've become so entrenched in human society... still, one can hope. The children deserve a better world.

On a different note:
As always, I love the way your rhymes flow. Thank you for sharing this piece! :)

[Tina Kline]

A really heartfelt poem for the children and adults in the most recent shooting. I live very close to and visit often the Clackamas Town Center mall shooting in Oregon just a few days ago.

But guns are not the problem. 'No gun zones' giving people with these dark desires a perfect place to go and do their killing is a bigger problem. We protect banks full of money with armed guards so why not protect children by getting rid of all these 'no gun zones' so people can protect the children under their care and protect themselves. Besides, today a Chinese man in China went into a school there and stabbed 20 to 30 children. And that happens a lot there, sadly enough. Stabbings are common in the UK I'm told by those who live there. People will do harm if they want to and find ways to do so. So guns aren't the problem. Society is the bigger problem.

But I understand your feelings...I wish society wasn't so dark and sick as it is right now. Hate seems to be the way these days since the last 4 or 5 years.

[Ed Fagan]

You know it's at times like theses that humanity gets me sick! Yes, I feel sad for the families involved in this recent shooting but what gets me inflamed is everyone crying to "get rid of the guns" as soon and as loud as they can

How many of you hypocrites even shed one tear for all of the innocent men, woman, and children murdered from the ILLEGAL invasion of Iraq? How about all the one murdered in cold blood by drone strikes?

Every please step down from "get rid of the gun" soapbox and see the real evil in this world!

David, I respect you as a writer I understand your sadness I do however deplore this message.

[David Lewis Paget]

Two totally different things, Ed. One was a war, and in war people get killed as a matter of course. No-one's saying that it's right, or moral, it's just war, which seems to be part of the human condition.

However, people should be able to feel secure in the suburbs, not suffering from galloping paranoia about how many weapons there are in the street.

[Marie]

If weapons were banned in this country I would feel far less secure than I do now, for I have no faith in the law. I believe that my neighbor, who is a criminal, will do far more to protect me than will the police of this city.

[David Lewis Paget]

Then thank God I don't live in America!

[Ed Fagan]

With all due respect, didn't the 168 or so dead children of Pakistan deserve the same comfort without worrying about American drone strikes?

Marie, the Police are here to protect Society as a whole, not the individual. The Supreme Court has ruled on this time and time again. I agree with you I wouldn't trust the Police with my protection.

[Marie]

My reasons for ot trysting the police are personal. Also, I am a bitter, cynical person, not like David Paget Lewis.

[Tate Morgan]

I don't know what to say to this Dave I am numb from the days events .The gun owners will say guns dont kill people do. But guns need a man behind them and without the guns they would not be able to kill so many. Get rid of the guns I dont need them and neither does anyone else. When my son was born I got rid of the only gun I ever owned. As a boy I can tell you I( never found a gun I didn't shoot.Boys nature being what it is we can't help ourselves. Thank you for this sanity Dave

[Mark]

There is no understanding those who would do such horrific violence, against people who cannot possibly have personally hurt them. The mentally ill will, as Sheila says, always find a way to make temporary peace with their inner demons, whether guns remain profligate or not. But in 1786, when the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were being ratified, we were fresh on the heels of a Revolution, and the possibility of a retributive attack was in the forefront of everyone's mind. I can see a six-shooter, or even a twelve shot clip, on a handgun, utilized for personal protection, or a rifle or shotgun for game hunting, but do the common people really need full-aut Uzis and AK's in private hands? Rhetorical question: of course they don't! The NRA's ONLY persuasive argument, IMHO, is that, "When gun ownership is made illegal (which Uncle Barack has as a high priority, apparently!), then only the criminals will have guns!" Madness will always be with us. Tragedy will always be with us. Guns, of themselves, neither create nor cure either problem., more's the pity.

[Emerald Seas]

A emotionally filled write. It is such a tragedy. No sense will ever be made to understand how someone can take the lives of such innocent children.

[Tarry Franck]

This is a perfect piece of grief for those lost in this tragic situation. Your emotions just flow off the page to me. Thank you for the wonderful poem.

[Siren]

A great piece in light of the recent events. Well handled and wonderfully written. Thanks for sharing this piece with us.

[Sheila Kline]

I thank you for your expressions of grief, and your views of gun control, but I hope we may agree to disagree as I believe in the right to bear arms, and am saddened by the lack of proper mental health treatment in our country! This is of course an ongoing debate, and I consider both sides of the issue, but having seen so many homeless, so many who are in dire need of proper mental health evaluation and treatment not receive it because of cost, lack of providers, etc. that I am compelled to take a look at this issue before pursuing the task of taking away that which protects us! I do not believe that taking away arms will cure any person's mental illness. If they don't use a gun, then one can use a bow and arrow, a knife, homemade bomb, and on an on. The cause of the event is not the weapon. It is a mental condition of the perpetrator.
As you are, I am deeply saddened by the incomprehensible loss of these innocent children and adults, and the horrific impact of it on this small community, and our nation, and our world.....as you so aptly express!!

[David Lewis Paget]

You live in a country where there are over 11,000 gun related deaths per year. I live in a country where there are about 68. Explain that.

[Sheila Kline]

There are many social, political, and economic differences between our two nations. A resolution to our opposing points of view would be very difficult to debate in this forum because of the very detailed and complex nature of the information behind the data. I respect you for your opinion and Australia for its success in this area. I am opposed to violence in all of its forms, and for any reason. I believe that all human beings need to embrace love!!