Tuesday 18 December 2012

G is for...

This poem is inspired by what Morgan Freeman is reputed to have said about the sensationalist media making things such as the Connecticut Shooting ten times worse by glamorising the shooter as the villain of the piece, and therefore vindicating their last plea for attention. For more information please see:
http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/12/morgan-freeman-blames-sensationalist-media-for-connecticut-shoot/
This isn't meant to offend anybody, just me using my creativity to try and make sense or voice the feelings of grief such a horrendous tragedy causes across not just the nation of America, but the whole world.

Ghosts

What am I doing here?
Miss said be brave, Miss said be strong,
Said that this man was wrong.
To be making such noise, and causing such pain,
She said he had nothing to gain.
And then she fell down,
And then I did too,
Now I’m wondering what I should do.
Because I want to go home, I want to get up,
But I can’t and I’ve tried, and I’ve hurt and I’ve cried.
What am I doing here?

And now they’re calling his name, baying for his blood,
It’s since been spilled, but it’s not enough.
To heal the grief, a nation’s tears,
Brought on by weak laws and wasted fears.
19 of us live on in our parent’s hearts, forever yearned for, forever apart.
He’s now a villain, his picture engrained,
On the minds of the public, forever ashamed.

But do you remember my name?  



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5 comments:

  1. Zoe18 December 2012 at 14:37

    I think you've captured it just right. With horrors of this magnitude i think it's impossible to wrap your brain around it. I wrote about the Breivik trial last year and it took a lot out of me to read so much about it, and the more I read the less I understood, so well done for approaching it. Somehow I think that poetry is the only way you can get close to expressing. You might be interested in this beautiful poem by Bob Hicok written about the Virginia Tech shootings - he works there, and something about it is really haunting. http://poetrysociety.tumblr.com/post/37925960390/in-the-loop-by-bob-hicok I think you've captured a similar sense of empty space and inarticulate sadness in your ghost children.

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  2. Tash Mills18 December 2012 at 14:46

    Hi Zoe,

    That poem you shared is so sad, there really is nothing you can say to make such a scene better, or to take away the pain of those parents right now. It's hard to get your head around the fact that some people feel so angry/sad/confused/lonely/mucked up that they'd go to such lengths. I guess it's just been on my mind a lot over the past week...
    Thanks for the feedback :)
    Tash

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  3. Jaime18 December 2012 at 15:53

    Very powerful Tash, says so much about the horrors of yet another shooting situation. What concerns me about the whole incident is that they're yet again calling for changes to gun laws, when actually they should be looking at mental health provision as well...

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  4. Jenny21 December 2012 at 13:18

    It is very powerful and sent shivers down my spine. I don't ever want to imagine how those parents and families must be feeling, because if someone ever hurt my kids I think I would loose it. I agree with Jaime, they shouldn't just be looking at changing the gun laws, they should start providing help to people who have been bullied or show 'un-natural' behaviour, to help them deal with what ever demons they have, to try and stop this kind of thing from ever happening again.

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  5. Kerry L13 January 2013 at 20:48

    Tash, this is so haunting and I think if you wanted to a further edit could make this a genius poem. I love the simplicity of the lines 'And then she fell down/And then I did too'. You are really transported into a child's view and this is very hard to achieve, creating a stark and real view of a horrific situation like this. The last few lines are so relevant too - taking it back to the killer and Morgan Freeman's comments, reminding people that the poem is not about him. The line 'What am I doing here?' seems to interrupt the flow of the poem and I'm wondering if you could edit this out, and keep the rhythm going until the final last line, which is the crunch of the poem? Definitely a standout effort Tash x

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