The Parkland, Florida, School Shooting
          by Cause Bewilder

This life—O, how much more of it remains? The night is brief.
Toward those short trees, we saw a bird, descending with our grief.
Chris Hixon, Aaron Feis, Scott Beigel vanished in the day.
Luke Hoyer, Meadow Pollack, Carmen Schentrup went away.
Helena Ramsey, Alex Schachter, Jaime Gutenberg:
alas their lot, they left in winter, sunlight still a blur.

And Cara Loughran, Nicholas Dworet, they were cut off,
like Joaquin Oliver, who too untimely had to fall.
Alaina Petty, Martin Duque Anguiano gone,
along with Gina Montalto, we will not hear their song.
Alyssa Alhadeff departed, as did Peter Wang;
short February this year seems intolerably long.

 

Cause Bewilder is a poet of the South.