“Lil Town...Lil Heart” Origional by Jöseph Lee Foster-Shumpert-Lear, 1999
Published 26 November 2005 :: Poetry
Read more by Jöseph Lee Foster-Shumpert-Lear
Dedicated in memory of those who were there and who died at Columbine High School (5/10/99)
Upon this day
I stand before thee
Like any other day
Before. . .
Except upon this day
A shield I carry
Because my blinders
I have removed
And now can see
The world
For the hell
That it has become
A world where my daughter
May grow up free of slavery
And yet still be a slave
To terror
And the ever luminous
Death . . .
Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray thee lord
Keep my family safe
And mine soul you keep
If I die . . .
Guns firing
Children are screaming
And all because a parents best
Was not good enough
Upon this day
Before thee I stand
Free of blinders
Shield in hand
For fear that the next report
Is of mine doing
Because my best
Was not good enough
And again
Our children are not safe
In the one place they should be
