New Poem about the Roseburg, Oregon Murders--and the Murders of Three Little Children in Cleveland

Murder is as American . . .

as apple pie, and as

common. Just yesterday almost 20 were shot

at a community college in Oregon,

leaving at least 10 dead

leaving behind uncountable broken families,

broken friends, broken hearts.

And hardly noticed, a five-month-old

murdered in a hail of cross fire

in the killing fields of Cleveland.

In America murder is everywhere,

outside a small city in Oregon,

in bucolic Chardon, in the rustfields of Cleveland,

and too often

in our own suicidal, homicidal hearts.

This is the bed we made, O America,

now we sleep in this bloody bed.

This is our choice:

Don’t tell me there’s nothing to be done!

[Bob Coughlin / October 2, 2015]