A Poem for Newtown

A Poem for Newtown
By Delroy Nesta Williams and Anique Cuffy


Just got shot and killed
They told me I'm heading to heaven
But why did this happen to me?
I'm only seven
Barely seen much since kindergarten
I'm supposed to be in school
Learning Science and History
Now I'm the one who's history
I hope though that my death doesn't cause too much misery
But is instead a lesson
And the reason that the world changes direction
Why the need for guns?
One minute I'm laughing with my friends
The next my life has come to an end
I didn't even get a chance to say a prayer
Because the Lord wasn't welcomed here
Not within the walls of my school
But now everyone's praying to the Lord to comfort my family
Something's wrong with this picture, seriously!
How do they expect me to rest in peace?
When the last thing I heard was gun shots and screams
Held my best friends hand as our lives ended in misery
And the saddest thing is the reason for our death will always remain a mystery
Our souls went into evanescence
While our bodies just laid there lifeless
So many gun shots wounds to our heads and chests
Can we even have an open casket?
Our right to live was taken from us
All our dreams crushed until they turned to dust
And soon all memories of us will be like scrap metal in a landfill
Just waiting to rust
Yes, we’ll rest but we’ll never be at peace
We’ll sit with the Master and with angels up high
And look down and say, Lord why do they keep missing the signs?
It’s so clear to see, so easy to read
Why don’t they take heed?
It’s time to take a stand!
Fight for those who don’t have the chance
The little boys and girls just like me
Who are prey to the situations just like these,
Who are just happy to go through life every day,
Not worried about the guns while they play.
Childhood should be a period free from strife
Not afraid or clinging on for dear life
I pray for my family and all the other families
That they, while on earth, will find peace
And they do justice to our memory
Please, just take away all the havoc and mischief
Let God sit in you all hearts
And stop asking why?
What happened to us was just a reminder
That this world is sick, in need of a cure
And God didn’t make it our home forever
And one day this, yes this will all be over
With hearts that a pure
He’ll take us to our true home over yonder
But for now, stop sit and wonder
And start act to bring us justice
The guns, the violence – we’ve got to stop this
We can’t have another Newtown
We can’t have another shootout
We got to change our route
And as a people just accept the truth
That guns in the hand of any and everybody
Is a recipe to kill anybody
Even the little children, the innocent boys and girls
We’re killing off the future of this world…

Where were you when...?

There are times in life when certain things that happen to you or happen around you leave such a mark on your life and the lives of people around you that you will always remember the moment and remember exactly what you were doing at that point in time.

Example number 1: the not guilty verdict for OJ Simpson in the muder trial for his wife and her "friend." I can remember that moment like yesterday walking down King George V Street in Roseau next to Julian's Jewelry Store. All of a sudden, boom, there was an uproar and everyone ran to the streets, OJ was not guilty and we could have cared less about the facts in the case or anything else for that matter but a black man had beaten the court system in America and that was enough for me and the rest of the Black world.

Then there is 9-11, another moment that i can never forget. I remember it like yesterday too. I had returned to Dominica after a few years at a college in Guadeloupe and i was yet to find a job so i spent most of my mornings in bed until the hours of 11a.m. But that morning was different, i felt restless and was twisting and turning, feeling hot between the sheets. I guess it was the weather then i got a call asking me to turn on the news. Then it really hit me, I saw the first plane descending into the twin towers and at first i thought what is this really raw movie being shown on CNN and then i switched channels and there is was on NBC, ABC and FOX and the lives of Americans, Iraqis, Afghanis and the rest of the World citizens will never be the same.

Now yesterday was a similar event, i was coming from the Dominica Reunion/30th Independence celebrations and i must say it was really good. The independence climaxed with a nice "sewo" of little violence and to me that made it exceptional given the activities of the past years. I hurried home to watch CNN, not a big news fan too, but still the US Elections had everyone glued to the televisions. I am not sure if there was a more watched event around the world, only the olympics can even come close. I am so proud that the US found it within their hearts to vote for the better candidate, well at least to me and millions in the US and around the World. Up until today, i havent used my blog to discuss politics but hearts off to Mr. Barack Obama, President-elect of the United States of America.



I must also say hearts off to McCain too for his speech last night, showed he did indeed have some class to concede so gracefully too.

A new day is dawning? well we dont really know, we have to wait and see but its a good first few minutes in that day...

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