Tributes and Memorials

Crisp, clean air.
Deep blue sky.
Myriad shades of yellow-green, yellows, oranges and reds.

The pounding of hammers.
Chattering in Spanish.
Classical violins, flutes, oboes.
The smell of freshly laid carpet.

My day, until I read . . .

Suddenly, shots rang out.
He told him to put that gun down now.
Another shot.
The teacher down.
Students running everywhere.
Four, five more shots.
Two more students down.
Terror.

My town - Reno-Sparks.
It can't happen here.
It did.
Another school shooting.

My heart breaks . . .
Why?
I'm asking that a lot lately.

My walk.
Grieving in my heart.
Silence around me.
Except for the jays.
Arguing, always arguing.

The lake is calm.
Geese swimming.
Autumn leaves spinning.
Circles in my head.

The statues beckon.
A child on the policeman's knee.
Twin Towers.
Firemen breaking walls.
Two men helping a woman.
Terror.

Why?

I am no poet.
I am no writer.
All that goes through my head
Is why?
Why?

This is a memorial to those who have gone through the terror or 9-11 in and those who valiantly gave their lives to save others.

This is my tribute to those who went through the terror of today in Sparks Middle School, and to the one man who gave his life to protect his students. You, Mike Landsberry, are the one who receives my heart tonight!