Seven years ago today, twenty children were mowed down by a gunman while they were in school.
I am not a poet, and I rarely am moved to write a poem. However, as I stood and listened in disbelief to the news of the shooting, the first lines flashed, unbidden, into my head.
I am reposting the poem today in memory of those children.
TWENTY CANDLES SNUFFED
Twenty children went to school
On this December day,
Their eyes a-gleam with eagerness
To learn. To laugh. To play.
Twenty children sat in class.
Their teachers stood before.
Twenty children shrank in fear
When Death walked in the door.
Twenty empty beds are left
A testament to homes bereft;
Parents bowed down in their grief,
Filled with sorrow and disbelief.
In twenty Newtown homes this year
The holidays will bring no cheer.
For twenty futures have gone dark.
Twenty candles snuffed.
Phyllis Entis 