The Children’s Crusade

In Sandy Hook & Parkland…and so many others

The murdered child does not lie down,

Does not let bullet holes 

Be cauterized by denial 

Or the passage of time …

This time the wound stays open

Lit by turbulent light,  

The moment grips –- raw, unprocessed 

Held in place by children’s outrage…  

Forfeiting their youth to become 

Flash-points for change,

Demanding courage…demanding action,

Stepping into the hail of media gunfire 

To speak their truth

Now every child a messenger,

Their open heart

transforms and unites, 

Summons us to our own human voice… 

Calling out through the barbed wire mesh

Of politics & money & fear

To tell the stories

Of Sandy Hook & Parkland  

Again and again, 

Until the pain evolves

Into the imprint of love’s fierce grace…

…and we rise up 

as a people 

and break the spell of the gun…