Ghosts of Columbine

Yellowing newspaper clippings

recall the anguish of that day

in Littleton Colorado.

Smears of ink

awaken

the Ghosts of Columbine.

Cassie of courageous faith, unwavering;

brave Daniel, who returned,

opening a door to save others;

Steven of Star Wars fame, the Navy's loss;

Corey, a fisherman, missed Easter in Oklahoma;

Rachel, actress, debater, leader for tomorrow;

Kelly, a poet, recently arrived from Arizona;

Isaiah, strong, courageous, a future record mogul;

Matthew, an "A" student and football player;

John of Wisconsin with generous hands

and charity work;

Daniel, just back from Paris and straight "A"s.

Lauren, honor student, headed to Colorado State

and a career in wildlife biology;

Kyle, with a crush on a pretty girl and serious kickball;

and Mr. Sanders--smiling on everyone,

a special guardian angel for Columbine.

 

These are the sweet, sad ghosts;

memories of friends gone too soon;

Ghosts never to be feared,

but missed and mourned.

 

Yet, frightening spirits linger here,

 lurking in dark corners,

hiding in two empty, unused lockers.

 

Two ghosts, sealed in the library,

condemned

to forever walk these halls;

unanswered question

echoes in the air---

"Why?  Why?  Why?"

 

The dark ghosts do not answer,

they are separate in death,

even as they were in life.

Always outside,

never belonging.

 

Author's Note

Many thanks to Selene for turning her critical eye on this peice, to great improvement--THANK YOU!

Reviews

[NoneOfYourBusiness akaK..]

you play the strings of my internal violin weeping with this haunting spinerette~ on that day and beyond my heart encased both the victims and the perpetrators~ children all~ victims of a callous society that has forgotten polish the kindness of spirit in its young ones~

[Wolf]

absolutly beautiful i myself wrote a poem on this matter