Death Watch

We know the score, the statistics, recent crime rates, and
The odds for and against; we know what’s there waiting,
 
The lone gunman and street gangs, drug dealers and users;
We know about the mall shootings, classrooms in chaos,
 
The stray bullet, the family gatherings going terribly wrong;
We know a lot about cause and consequence, about revenge
 
And about regret; we know about confusion and catastrophes;
We empathize and sympathize, we witness and participate;
 
We sign petitions and build shrines, we stockpile, get ready
For the inevitable, buy guns, stronger locks, and alarms.
 
We casually discuss morality as if it were a distant planet,
Discuss measures and means; we sanely discuss our insanity;
 
Killing and dying have become a way of life. A preoccupation,
A conversation starter, a news item, a frightening part of us all.

-- J. K. Durick