A poem for Uvalde, Texas

President Biden

Said losing a child

Is like tearing

A piece out of your soul.

I know. I lost a son.

And yesterday nineteen

Sets of parents

In Uvalde, Texas

Lost their precious

Little boys and girls too.

No amount of prayers

Will ever take away

Their pain.

I know. My pain

Stays in my heart

After twenty-three years.

And that we allowed it

To happen.

That we didn’t restrict

An eighteen-year-old

From buying

An assault weapon,

Designed and intended

Only to be used

In battlefields

And not to bloody

Schools or grocery stores

Or places of worship.

We must stop

These horrors –

The killing of

Innocent people

Just wanting

To live normal lives.

We must stop

The pain and

The pieces of our souls

From tearing away.