It Ends Today

 The Final Trigger Pulled

A day that flows as normal,

As all days tend to start,

Bikes screeching ‘cross the pavement,

Sun toasting like a pop tart.

We sling our bags across our shoulders,

Streaming in within each class,

The bell rings its familiar chime of commencement,

For many unsuspecting, it rings its last.

Books clamor down in smokes of dust,

And chairs creak back to hold our weight,

Hearty laughter spurs to and fro,

The epiphany of home, not to truncate.

But shorten it will,

As teacher’s brows start to furrow,

Trepidation weighs the air,

Seclusion starts to burrow.

Another bell rings shrill,

SNAP! Life spurs to war,

Laughter cuts into screams,

Quick! Somebody shut that door!

A window breaks,

 a little girl shrieks,

Bang, bang, bang,

The adrenaline leaks.

Like thunder after lightning,

Painful noises near closer,

Desks slam to a fortress,

Students shoved like a bulldozer.

A quiet murmur erupts,

All eyes are bloodshot,

The electricity within us,

Each student a kilowatt.

Each second a stab,

Each minute a shot,

Every single footstep,

Our core starts to rot.

Like a black man going to court,

They thought they’d be safe,

But alas, the consequences of psychotic comportment,

The victim will feel the chafe.

As the clock hits two, 

the panic subsides,

The intruder seems distant,

Furthering are his strides

Maybe today we’ll be the lucky stock,

We wish, we hope, we pray,

Yet we’re pitted down like a corpulent rock,

Our resolve begins to fray.

Tick, tock, tick, tock,

Crickets chirp out in the field,

We sweat, we hug, we crouch down in solitude,

But we pledge to never yield.

Finally, the announcement rings,

The killer found and stalled,

We’re safe to leave, to cry, to flock,

To our parents, who we’ve so desperately been called.

To the propagators out there,

The heartless ones who strike,

The lives of children, our youth, our future

Are not to be cut like the spokes of a bike.

The waves of scrutiny, and malice, and gore,

That the world around you has inflicted with callous,

Is but an excuse in the minds of the meeker,

So rise to your throne, your place, your palace.

For the world without pain is a world for the better,

It’s feeble disdain, tinted with hope,

So come on now, remove the noose ‘round your neck,

Relinquish your urge, and loosen the rope.

Don’t let another mother cry those bitter tears,

Another grave be buried by remorse and regret,

Let’s make this world a better place,

And 2023 a year to never forget.

This year’s going to be a good one. I can feel it. Happy New Year.