Forgive me, darling
But it was hard to write with all
That gunfire chattering in school

Hard to write with the
Television on, and the sounds of sirens
In the background, shrieking for
The children we were all too late to save.

Hard to write when I closed my
Eyes and imagined carnage even
Nightmares couldn’t erase

Hard to write when the sound of
The shovels breaking into the wintry earth
Disturbed my concentration

Hard to write when they
Played the muffled drums
And blew the muted bugles

Hard to write again
When I stood on a wintry hill
And watched them lower
The white caskets
Into ground that never wanted them

Hard to write, hard to sing a carol
Hard to wish someone something merry
When I felt nothing of the spirit

Hard to write, hard to raise a glass
Hard to wish anyone a happy
On the stroke of glittering midnight
Except when I hoped we would all
Resolve it would never be so hard to write again.

01/01/2013

Author's Note: I so wished I could have written the gentle, loving tributes to the victims of the Sandy Hook shootings as did Chris Sorrenti and Glenn Currier. Alas, I could not. There is something about the wanton gun violence in this society which leaves my heart blackened, and made it, literally, hard to write.

Posted on 01/02/2013
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