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]
