Fear Has No Place Here

by Joanna Bruno

"Every morning you dress in your uniform,

weapons in hand and a shield on your back.

You arrive on time.

You walk in line.

Bullets tear through the air,

the gunshots will ring through your ears long after they stop today.

The screams of your peers will haunt your memory for years to come.

The "are you okay?" texts and the tear stained screens reading "i love you",

illuminate young faces.

Your best friend has stopped answering.

Shots erupt in the distance.

You don't know if it's your heroes coming to your rescue,

or the intruder aiming for people you'll soon say you once knew.

Bodies lay limp on the linoleum, blood staining the white tile.

Where the halls were filled with laughter and chatter just hours before.

You are not on a battlefield.

You are in school.

Your uniform a t-shirt and your favorite pair of jeans.

Your only defense is the pencil you dropped in panic.

Your backpack has become armor.

You hold your breath and for once hope that you go unnoticed in high school.

You pray to live to see another day.

Or even better, a day where school shootings are no longer part of the syllabus."