L Milton Hankins | + Follow Poet |
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Outcry For Change

What can I do to stop this terrible aching in my gut?
And yet, I am glad that I have not lost my sense of caring
That something inside of me still hurts when others hurt
My heart is damaged when I learn of the callousness,
The lack of concern when those who have the power
To effect change do nothing but equivocate and preen.

I am appalled that otherwise intelligent people make
Excuses, putting forth arguments to support their cause
Who will do nothing…nothing, I say, to effect change.
What is giving up your AK-15?  Nineteen children died!
Nineteen little souls, with a full life to live, are dead.
And what if they were your child, or your grandchild?

How could you live with yourself if yours lay cold and dead?
Because some deranged boy got his hands on your AK-15,
Some misdirected lad shot up the school where you
Or your wife worked, or where your children attend?
Have not enough children already paid the ultimate price
For your right to own a damnable assault-type weapon?

And if nothing is done, if there is no outcry for a change
How long before we go through the nightmare again?
Will it happen in the school two blocks from my house?
Perhaps the school in your neighborhood? You think?
No, of course not, it could never happen there…or here 
In a small town like ours, like Uvalde, Texas, for God’s sake.

What can I do to stop this terrible aching in my gut?
And yet, I am glad that I have not lost my sense of caring
That something inside of me still hurts when others hurt.
My heart is damaged when I learn of the callousness,
The lack of concern when those who have the power
To effect change do nothing but equivocate and preen.

I must do the only thing I know how to do...cry out!
I must write, but I'll never get this horror out of my system.
I still hurting over Sandy Hook, Parkland, Stoneman Douglas,
Now Robb Elementary School...tragedies of epidemic proportion.
And when will it stop? It should stop. This is America!
But it will never stop, I fear. 

Copyright © L Milton Hankins | Year Posted 2022

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Bill Baker Date: 5/29/2022 10:19:00 AM I'm with you on this, Milt. We've lost control over guns of mass destruction. Bill Login to Reply L Milton Hankins Date: 5/29/2022 10:32:00 AM I'm afraid so, Bill, and I don't see much change for the better on the horizon. But, I try to be optimistic and think that, sooner or later, we will voluntarily rid ourselves of assault weapons.

Gershon Wolf Date: 5/26/2022 7:10:00 PM I'm going to change your punctuation: 'It should stop?' --This is America!... America, being the leader in children killed on school grounds. We are #1, sad to say. I don't see it stopping either, Milt. The wheels are definitely off, as they say. :) gw Login to Reply L Milton Hankins Date: 5/27/2022 5:47:00 AM Have at it, gw. My punctation was in my head! I generally come up with punctuation while doing a final reading of anything I write. I generally break a few rules, too.

Maurice Rigoler Date: 5/26/2022 10:01:00 AM What in hell is happening in this country and in Washington, specifically with the Republican party? The majority of its senators who are opposed to any change in the use of guns should be placed under psychiatric watch 24/7 or forcibly removed from office! They've made a dogma of the 2nd amendment. The NRA should be dissolved and its officers jailed. / Maurice Login to Reply L Milton Hankins Date: 5/26/2022 10:12:00 AM Thank you so much, Maurice. I do not know what we have come to, but I certainly don't like it. Thank you for speaking your piece! I appreciate you.

Caren Krutsinger Date: 5/26/2022 8:37:00 AM This is America where the powers that "be" are given THICK amounts of MONEY to make sure AK47's and other senseless guns are given to everyone. Their "DEVIL-GIVEN right" unfortunately. Nicely done. Login to Reply L Milton Hankins Date: 5/26/2022 9:20:00 AM Thank you, Caren. I couldn't agree more. These high-powered guns are Satan's play-toys, in my opinion. Confiscate and destroy all of them! I am not opposed to legitimate guns for sport and for target practice, but I see no need for the others at all. Outlaw them, confiscate and destroy them!