“Little Coffins” Guest post by Carol Hallman

Thanks to Carol Hallman for naming the grief and lifting a call to action.

Little coffins
holding tiny bodies
Ashes to ashes
Dust to dust

Another child dead
Another life
taken in the land
of the free
and the home
Of the brave

They strike us
the hardest
Little Ones
murdered
As they were
learning to read
and write
To name the Presidents
Laughing as they
played tag on the playground
excited about
summer vacation

There are other
Coffins though
There in Texas
And in Buffalo
Colorado, Florida
Back to Sandy Hook
From schools to churches
To shopping malls
A wide swath of
death

All dying
on the altar
Of gun violence
Each time
Thoughts and prayers
Offered

Never a solution
Sought
A way found
A path lit
Which could lead
to prevention

In the land of the free
we cannot even
talk about guns
Or laws about guns
Or mental health
Or seek the answers
To the “why” these
Things happen

No, here we just
wait for the
furor to die
down and next
time…
Because- as surely as
the sun rises-
there will be
a next time
Again
we will offer 
Thoughts and prayers

Then we will
forget

Unless, except if we
are among those
standing by
Those coffins
Tears flowing
Hearts broken
Among
the grieving
life will never
be the same