Nashville Covenant Poems

These are poems for the victims of the Nashville Covenant School shootings. Nashville Covenant Call to Love by Michael R. Burch Our hearts are broken today for our children's small bodies lie broken; let us gather them up, as we may, that the truth of our Love may be spoken; then, when we have put them away to nevermore dream, or be woken, let us think of the living, and pray for true Love, not some miserable token, to command us, for strength to obey. For a Nashville Covenant Child, with Butterflies by Michael R. Burch Where does the butterfly go when lightning rails, when thunder howls, when hailstones scream while winter scowls and nights compound dark frosts with snow? Where does the butterfly go? Where does the rose hide its bloom when night descends oblique and chill beyond the capacity of moonlight to fill? When the only relief's a banked fire's glow, where does the butterfly go? And where shall the spirit flee when life is harsh, too harsh to face, and hope is lost without a trace? Oh, when the light of life runs low, where does the butterfly go? Frail Envelope of Flesh by Michael R. Burch Frail envelope of flesh, lying cold on the surgeon’s table with anguished eyes like your mother’s eyes and a heartbeat weak, unstable... Frail crucible of dust, brief flower come to this— your tiny hand in your mother’s hand for a last bewildered kiss... Brief mayfly of a child, to live nine artless years! Now your mother’s lips seal up your lips from the Deluge of her tears... Epitaph for a Slain Child by Michael R. Burch I lived as best I could, and then I died. Be careful where you step: the grave is wide. As springs’ budding blossoms emerge the raptors glide mercilessly. —Michael R. Burch Childless by Michael R. Burch How can she bear her grief? Mightier than Atlas, she shoulders the weight Of one fallen star. Shooting Gallery by Michael R. Burch If we live by the rule of the gun what can a child do, but run? War stood at the end of the hall in the long shadows —Watanabe Hakusen, translation by Michael R. Burch Piercing the Shell by Michael R. Burch If we strip away all the accouterments of war, perhaps we'll discover what the heart is for. Grown darkly accustomed to grief, will we ever turn over a new leaf? -Michael R. Burch Keywords/Tags: Nashville Covenant School, shooting, massacre, children, kids, students, child abuse, gun control, America, United States, USA, death, deaths, murder, serial murder, massacre, bereavement