Musings in a Time of Crisis XXXIV

Fatal Celebration (July 3-5)

      In memory of 9 children lost to gun violence
          on Independence Day Weekend, 2020


They were six
and seven, sometimes

as young
as four, sometimes

as old as eleven
two were
two were seven
two six  two eight

the one just four, well
here our eyes land
and do not move

If you ask where
they came from
I could answer
Everywhere but

that would be wrong
We know today
they numbered nine
Let us name them
and if not, then

their play places:
Atlanta; Avon, Indiana;
Chicago; Columbia,
Missouri; Galivants
Ferry, South Carolina;

Hoover, Alabama;
Philadelphia;
San Francisco
Washington, D.C.

Lives taken now
noted, new numbers
added to archives
to help us remember

they died by gun
on our July 4 weekend

their fatal celebration
lost among the sounds
of bursting rockets

the sparklers held
in their tight little fists
raised against the red glare

________________________________

https://gunviolencearchive.org

Even during this pandemic, the children continue to die. I wish I knew their names, and not their incident numbers.