How Can I Be Silent?

601 US school shootings from 1884-2016.

19 Canadian school shootings for same time period.

Originally I was just looking up Canadian school shootings but then my curiosity got the best of me.

I know I am suppose to be on a news break but children…..

Every time I read about an act of violence against children my heart is shredded.

There are no words.

I have never lost a child to violence so I can only imagine the grief, fear, pain that will become a constant parental companion.

But I am an empath.

And I am a writer with an imagination.

I will never know the devastation of losing a child through violence and in all the I hold dear I pray that I and anyone I know never does.

We can never understand the unending abyss of pain that will ebb but be the silent pulse in time with their heartbeat.

We can never understand the desire to end it so we can once more hold our child within our arms.

We can never understand.

I wonder too what more could have been done to stop an individual who made it clear on social media that this exact type of situation was brewing?

That the children should beware.

What more could have been done?

Where were the individuals policing social media?

Where were the powers that be when this individual announced on social media that he had purchased not one but two assault rifles?

What more could have been done?

Today 19 parents are in mourning.

Politicians offer prayers.

They begin to lace up their gloves for a political boxing match.

This will once more not be about the death of these children.

This will not be about the failure of mental health issues being ignored.

This will not be about the failure of a school system that helped to create this individual.

This will become another tragedy upon which coattails will be ridden.

Please tell me:

When does it become enough?

How many children is too many before things stop?

These children have become caught in a deadly war that is home brewed.

And no one is wanting to take responsibility.

My heart goes out to all parents who have lost a child to violence.

My tears fall and my soul aches.

I wish I had a magic wand.

I wish I could turn back time.

I wish those who could make a difference would make a difference.

But they will not.

©May 25/22

Picture via Pexels Free Picture