Pop! Pop! Pop!
Three lives lost.
A refrain as familiar to American ears as “Jingle Bells”
Are we numb? Deaf? I wonder. Where is the outrage?
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
Five lives lost.A mother uses her body as a shield, protecting her two-month-old baby
From shards of glass screaming at them
From cries that will ring in her heart til death
From witnessing a blinding rage that will haunt her forever
From people scrambling over themselves, fleeing
From bullets,
Molten hot, slicing through flesh, ripping away life.Pop!
One life lost.
From shards of glass screaming at them
From cries that will ring in her heart til death
From witnessing a blinding rage that will haunt her forever
From people scrambling over themselves, fleeing
From bullets,
Molten hot, slicing through flesh, ripping away life.Pop!
One life lost.
Are we numb? Deaf? I wonder. Where is the outrage?
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
Ten lives lost.We must see past our fear…
Past our sacrifice of life in the name of a fictitious freedom …
Past our collective history that used guns as tools of white supremacy, genocide, slavery …
Past the ignorance of lessons we refuse to learn
So many times before …
Past our fate of repeating our mistakes …Pop! Pop! Pop!
Three lives lost.
Past our sacrifice of life in the name of a fictitious freedom …
Past our collective history that used guns as tools of white supremacy, genocide, slavery …
Past the ignorance of lessons we refuse to learn
So many times before …
Past our fate of repeating our mistakes …Pop! Pop! Pop!
Three lives lost.
How many more will have to die?
“gun” is licensed under CC0 1.0
Lauren Halsted
Lauren Halsted Burroughs teaches English at Cuyamaca Community College in San Diego, CA. She began her career in writing as an editorial assistant at Surfing Girl Magazine almost two decades ago, and has worked as a journalist, grant writer, online content writer, and has dabbled in research and academic publishing. She is happiest when spending time with her two young children, family, and friends and/or playing in the ocean.
