School Starts
In honor of the 60th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech and to commemorate the 27 shootings in 2023.
Pencils, pens, bells and drills. In America, school kills.
Anxiety deepens with the last tomato on the vine,
While legislators claim, “Everything’s fine.”
For them it is, old men never wiped noses, tied shoes, or
bought school clothes. We don’t fight Nature; we accept the Fall.
It’s this “equality” we abhor — violence for all.
Instead of an action movie, what if we held a higher thought?
Contemplate a ballad, instead of a murderous plot?
What if we blasted open school doors with a Rilke poem?
Blew open minds with Plath and Rumi?
Ban racists, not books. Would someone sue me?
What if we could hug all kids? Eliminate test scores
feed everyone a healthy lunch and play outdoors?
