Sifting Throught The Dust

Follow up to, "A Nation Mourns".

Slowly

The truth flows out

On Cpl, Nathan Cirillo's killer

Michael Zehaf-Bibeau.

 

A troubled man

With a history

Of mental illness

Drug usage

And a criminal past.

 

Who sought help

By threatening employess

At a BC McDonald restaurant

With a sharpened stick

Through Canada's penal system.

 

Only to be release

Untreated.

 

I don't condone

His violent actions

On October 22, 2014

Taking a young man's life.

 

But his actions

Speak of a flawed system

That warehouses

The mentally ill

Without the proper attention.

 

The ranting and raving

Of a mental ill man

Doesn't constitutes

A smoking gun

For a religious extremist.

 

Despite

What the RCMP says

About a video

They possess

From Michael Zehaf-Bibeau.

 

To do so

Is to take

The easy way out

And blame the victim.

 

For Michael Zehaf-Bibeau

Is a victim

Just like Cpl. Cirillo is.

 

Whether or not

You agree with me.

Reviews

[icelandicblue]

So many suffer and we fill the world with throw away people who need help but never get it. A very thought provoking poem.

[therisa]

Thank you, Icelandicblue. I have seen the damage, when I stayed, in a homeless shelter, for a month.

[MomzillaNC]

Very pointed and thought-provoking composition.

NOTES: I think this is more of an essay or blog than a poem. I recommend restructuring it into essay form posting it as a blog or as an essay.

[therisa]

Thank you, Momzilla. I wouldn't know, where to start, in changing this, into an essay or a blog. Maybe, it's the way, my mind works, but I think, it has a stronger impact, as is. For I find it easier to express myself, in this form.

[MomzillaNC]

You're welcome. And, it's your inspiration on the page. My NOTES are only ever recommendations that you may ignore or adopt as you see fit.

[therisa]

I write like this, because, of my learning disabilities. Find it easier to track, what I have written.

[MomzillaNC]

Don't sell yourself short. You can write in essay and/or conversational form too. You do it all the time in your exchanges with me. If you can say, you can write it.

[therisa]

It takes longer to express myself, in this format. While my ideas move at light speed, compare to my speed of sound hands. Am grateful, this isn't an essay or an exam, else I would be here, forever. Personal experience, I had a high school teacher write out my answers on an exam, because I couldn't transfer it from my brian, to the written page.

[MomzillaNC]

That was very kind of the teacher. Have you tried dictation software?

[therisa]

He was a very special teacher that all of the students loved. I tend to stutter, when I write, which I was informed, when I was writing an essay, in the special need room, in the university library. I do unconsciously. And yes, it gets really bad, during stressful time, to the point, I can't talk full sentences.

[MomzillaNC]

It's rare to find that kind of teacher. There's a lovely memory for you to be thankful for at the end of this day, for your list tomorrow.

[therisa]

I missed him, when he transferred to another high school, during my final year.

[MomzillaNC]

He entered you life and gave you an example of good person to carry with you. That's a priceless treasure.

[therisa]

I wish I had met him, sooner, in my high school years.

[MomzillaNC]

IDK, wishing things different, to me, is too backward looking. You might not have been ready for his lessons if you'd met him sooner.

[therisa]

It's possible, but hindsight is 20/20.

[Lyn Anderson]

Strong words, and well thought out. * you should probably put an ed on end of sharpened. However, mentally ill or no, the target means that the shooter was targeted by extremists -- so a victim of sorts, for sure, but many people who did bad things in history were also mentally ill, not negating the heinous acts nor excusing them in my opinion. A thoughtful poem.

[therisa]

Thank you, KL, for the spelling correction. I want to people to realize, this isn't a black and white case, as the the Mounties are protraying to the media and the general public. And yes, he deserved to be punished, under Canada's legal system, had he lived. I'm not excusing his actions, in any way, as I mention, in the poem.