The Shooting Chronicles

In the depths of sorrow, we now inquire,
To revisit pain, from a time so dire,
A chronicle of heartbreak, hard to digest,
The shootings at schools, we cannot protest.

From '66 to present, time's heavy weight,
Begins a chapter, we'd much rather negate,
But within these lines, we dare to explore,
The tragedies that shook our core to the core.

1966, Austin, bell tower ablaze,
From high above, chaos fills the gaze,
Charles Whitman, a sharpshooter amiss,
Victims left behind, their dreams in abyss.

Then Cleveland, '71, the spell takes hold,
Nikolas Cruz, just fourteen years old,
Bringing violence, he left scars that remain,
Reminders of a day cloaked in eternal pain.

Kent State, '70, a tale of unrest,
National Guardsmen failed a peaceful protest,
Four young souls, lured by a nation turned bleak,
Unleashed upon them, a fate they couldn't tweak.

Years pass, yet shootings persist with disdain,
Each one, a reminder of innocent slain,
Columbine, the ghostly echoes still heard,
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold's deepest word.

Virginia Tech, '07, a campus bled,
As Seung-Hui Cho left many souls dead,
Acres of grief, as hopes were torn asunder,
In the wake of tragedy, we all now wonder.

Sandy Hook, '12, young children taken away,
A shattering blow under skies so gray,
Adam Lanza's wrath struck the nation's heart,
Forever joined in sorrow, we remain a part.

From Parkland to Santa Fe, the list grows grim,
A roll call of anguish as souls grow dim,
Each name a burden carried by us all,
A haunting reminder that we need to stand tall.

We cannot ignore this devastating trace,
Of lives forever lost, stolen by disgrace,
But let us not dwell on the darkness alone,
For united we'll conquer, seeds of change sown.

Through shared compassion, we find a ray of light,
A glimmer of hope, amidst the darkest blight,
In the face of violence, a resolve we reclaim,
To protect our future, and heal the pain.

So let us remember, safely nestled within,
Those fallen souls who'll never rise again,
In their memory, let us rise and persist,
Creating a world, where such pain cannot exist.