Juliet Geers

This Isn't Normal

Why is it? That a pandemic was the only thing that could bring mass shootings to a stop?

In a nation where gun violence is just another part of growing up

And we’re never really sure, if “bye mom!” is really “goodbye, mom.”

English, science, shooting, math

Hiding around the corner from where you believe the shooter to be wondering if this is the “America that is great once again”

The deep fear

The regrets that wash over you

The commotion from down the hall races towards me

My arms hugging my head

My head on top of my knees

Is this it?

People claiming they care about unborn fetuses, but seem to become blind as kids huddle, crouched in the corridor, desperate, breathing what might be their very last breaths

They seemed to care so much about law, order, and the second amendment, but seemed to become a stranger to those beliefs as they saw their leader burn down in flames

“Because if they actually cared about rule of law, they would speak up when people break the law.”

Because when people would rather see two men holding guns than holding hands

Or when kids who have only talked once, hold each other as if they are each other's mother

It doesn’t take a genius to see that our priorities are broken

“We cannot protect our guns before we protect our children.”

The world picks at the joke of a country my country has become, when twenty kindergartners are gunned down, and then swept under the rug

Kids crying cut-short

Waves of wailing while waiting

I crouched down holding my best friend at the pride parade, a homeless man stroking my head

Where did my country go wrong?

Luke Hoyer

Alyssa Alhadeff

Peter Wang

Say their names.

This isn’t normal.