Lockdown
Seven turkey vultures with grasping fingers,
their feathers splayed wide
along a black fence, the day after
I veer around yellow tape and red lights,
the news of children murdered
once again, every ten days
more death from a gun.
I sit in quiet daylight
wondering if I should pray,
hearing mother cardinals echoing
my laments, an aural mirage
mutates into children crying
as a teacher hushes them into a corner,
quiet mice now.
My own children with tears
after code red conversations
too old for small ears;
just in case, we practice.
You must run I say,
I repeat you must run,
we must run from places
where weapons are worth
more than lives.
Amanda Coleman White is a poet and storyteller currently working toward a PhD that combines creative writing and Celtic myth. She has been a featured poet with Indolent Press, and has poems published in literary magazines such as Channel Magazine, Obsessed with Pipework, After Happy Hour Review and The Dawntreader.
‘Lockdown’ was written in response to the Nashville school shootings on 27th March 2023.
14th December is the anniversary of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shootings.