For those who did not see …

For those who did not see,

who did not realize the child or parent,
brother, sister, friend,
neighbor, workmate, acquaintance,
would pick up a gun and kill,

I pray today.

For those who say — he was quiet, 
or — the last few months
there was a change but we never thought …

for those who rocked a baby,
with ten adorable toes,
who kissed a sweetheart,
who thanked someone for shoveling,
who compared test grades
and complained about the teacher,

and never imagined
the killing of other people’s babies,

I pray today.

These, too, are filled with despair,
with formless guilt
that will never go away,
and dreams of ghosts and loss,

these, too, are victims
of gun merchants and the NRA,
the cowardice of lawmakers,
a core of violence
in the self-image of America,
the hair-trigger of Trump’s hatred,
and the inertia

of those of us
who do see
what is desperately wrong
but do nothing
until someone we loved is killed,
or someone we love kills.