For the Children of Sandy Hook

I live in a great, wide open land

At the other end of the earth,

But the TV News and the Devil’s views

Are beamed to my own home hearth,

And often I think to turn my head

As the joy of life’s undone,

Back in that great democracy

At the point of a loaded gun.

 

We learnt our lesson and banned all weapons

When we took time to choose,

After a madman ran amok,

So why don’t you do it too?

For now the parents are bent in grief

For their lost young daughters and sons,

I couldn’t do anything else but weep,

Please God, get rid of the guns!

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Van]

hah... I really doubt that the world can get rid of all its firearms now that they've become so entrenched in human society... still, one can hope. The children deserve a better world.

On a different note:
As always, I love the way your rhymes flow. Thank you for sharing this piece! :)

[cloud]

I for one could'nt agree more. My heart is broken for those children and also I must say for the adults who there as well. Such a horible tragedy. Guns are only meant to kill.

[lee von cleef]

Control, Control, yes we are free, free thinkers ,first world believers, maybe even leaders, after all you never know who is going to follow the trail you just blazed, Conception carries responsibility, maybe we are all mad in our heads,doomed to give up all personal responsibility to a corset of rules,Today we will see a different Sandy Hook community , mostly the same community that was there all along, only now, the love, the mothers milk, the best part of America will shine,a people that truly do want something better for all,and yes a lot of Guns paved the way for us to get here today, yes many people are too irresponsible to deserve their right to own a gun,I would add too irresponsible to deserve their right to have children,to vote,to drink,to drive,to risk,to have any of the freedoms they disgrace,But here we are, free thinkers splashing the web with views of Purity, Truth, our chosen "Middle Paths"

[Clayton Bardwell]

Hello David,

This is madness. It’s happening all too frequently here in America.
In the course of my lifetime there have been many unbelievable changes far beyond my comprehension, some for good and some for evil.

America is unquestionably the singular world power, at least for now. You would think we could figure out a way to stop the madness. Guns may in fact be part of the answer, but not the sole answer. We must figure out what is causing this pandemic of madness if we are to save ourselves.

I wouldn't think that guns cause the madness or there would be much more of it. Mad men certainly use guns to carry out the orders of their demons. If they didn't have guns what would they do to answer the voices in their heads?

I noticed your question to a reviewer on why America has so many more gun related deaths than Australia. I did some calculations based on the 2011 census of the two countries that I found on the internet. Here are my results;

America has a population of 311,591,917. Australia’s population is 22,620,600.
Using your stats for gun related deaths I calculated the following percentages based on population.

America= 0.0035302%
Australia=0.0030060%
That’s a difference of 0.0005242% per capita.

Our two nations may not be that different.

God bless and save the children.

[David Lewis Paget]

Hi Art, you'd better recalculate. I just saw the figures from the Brady Report. It states that on average, 97,820 Americans are shot every year, though only 9,000 are classed as homicides (for some unknown reason???)

[Clayton Bardwell]

That's the problem with statistics. They change depending on who is spinning the result. I read somewhere that a percentage are suicides and accidental miscalculations. In any event there is too much madness.

[Becky C Strukamp]

So thoughtful and kind of you to dedicate this poem to those dear children who lost their lives in Connecticut. How tragic. Thank you for writing this and sharing.

[J. J. Nightingale]

What KAOlmsted wrote ..

J.

[KAOlmsted]

Thank you for the read request; but, as a law abiding American citizen with certain inalienable rights, I have to respectfully disagree with your last line.

[David Lewis Paget]

Do you include in those 'inalienable rights' of yours, the rights of those children to be shot?

[KAOlmsted]

You strike me as an intelligent man. Do not to bore me with being stupid. I will give you one opportunity, and one alone, to think about the ridiculous statement you just made and to redeem yourself...try not to be a sanctimonious prick in future...thanks again for the read request.

[David Lewis Paget]

That's the sort of aggressive response I would expect from someone incapable of carrying an argument. What would you do if I really made you mad - shoot me?

[KAOlmsted]

You don't possess the mental capacity to anger me. I save my aggression for things I am passionate about. I'll read some of your other work and comment as I see fit. Take your inflammatory remarks elsewhere...kimmer is not interested. Again...thank you for the Read Request.

[Patricia B. Hepler]

Miss, your ignorance is obvious, as is your complete lack of manners. Your insulting comments are proof positive that you are insecure, obtuse and rude. If you have nothing to contribute, why would you expend your "aggressions " insulting someone/something that you are not "passionate " about?

[Baby Ricochet]

If every rifle, hand gun and assault weapon disappeared from this great nation tomorrow there's little doubt we'd all be better off but that isn't going to happen. U S arm manufacturers make some of the finest death dealing technology available on this earth and it creates billions in revenue for the industry. The right to bear is as deeply ingrained into the American collective psyche as the free press is. A total gun ban in the United States is a pipe dream errespective of what one believes. It's never gonna happen tools

[Baby Ricochet]

I meant that to end it's never gonna happen toodles but this f*****g phone has a nasty habit of correcting what it sees as bad grammar

[Patricia B. Hepler]

Baby, I am for the right to bear arms! I own a handgun and a rifle. I
Just strenuously object when one person vituperously attacks and attempts to belittle anyone - whether ot not they're referring to ones works or someone personally....
Thanks for sharing your point of view.
*pat

[Patricia B. Hepler]

I'm using my Kindle Fire.. Btw, I would've used email msg's but... I don't know how to....any suggestions?

[Tate Morgan]

I find it so hard to find anything wrong with Pagets opinion here.He backs them up with fact.The thought that my ex friend KAOLmstead doesnt have a clue how unfair and rude she has been is the real tragedy to me

[Dayran]

A horrible tragedy, David.

[Frieda P]

Seems that even with gun control, they always end up in the hands of evil. This is a terrible tragedy, my heart breaks for those families. Nice tribute, thanks for this.

[Keith]

I knew nothing of this tragedy until this evening but I will share my thoughts.
Earlier in the day I had the go to a high school to work. Like the law abiding citizen that I am, I left my gun in my car (I am licensed to carry a concealed weapon). So here I was as helpless as all the rest if a gunman had entered that school. And why do you think there are so many school shootings. Could it be because it is a target rich environment with no defenses.

The simple fact is guns, knives or clubs are here to stay and there will always be some evil person who will use them. The only real defense is an equal or better weapon in that very moment in the hand of a potential victim. As my combat instructor said. "You are only fooling yourself if you think you can talk a criminal out of harming you. You must make him make the decision to stop his attack." Sometimes it may be just pulling the gun out. Sometimes it may mean pulling the trigger.

[william keepers]

I agree with getting rid of guns David and as a neighbor to the north I see a great deal of what happens among my American kin. They believe that their right to bare arms is the citizens right to protect themselves against tyrants..., which sadly has some truth to it, as well as in a number of places around the world. What might North Korea be like if the citizenship was armed? Much like Syria is now I would imagine.
Would the citizens of any country rise up against the tyrants by standing in the line of fire of the tyrants' manipulated sheep until they laid down their weapons in shame? I really don't think there are enough martyrs out there for that. The madness continues...