By Ron Cooper
In 1999, I wrote a poem, “See This Child,” about the heartrending news of Columbine. In 2019, I was still writing poems on school shootings with “Gone Are These,” about the young lives tragically cut short at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California.
See This Child
See this child
His future was stolen
In a hail of gunfire
He is your son
And he is mine
See this child
Her potential was murdered
On a terrible Tuesday
She is your daughter
And she is mine
For these our children
We must speak out
Their voices are stilled
But ours must never be
So long as madness reigns
In the hearts of some youth
We must remain vigilant
And steadfast, and cry,
“This must never happen again!”
Gone Are These
Gone are these
The golden ones
Once in our midst
These innocent souls
Such promise once
Now truly missed
Gone are these
The golden ones
Graced our lives
And once thrived
Now are deprived
Deprived of a chance
to grow
to play
to love
to work
to discover
to achieve
to serve
Gone are these
Who would say
“Our last moments
“Should not be as these”
And now ask
A simple question
That gives us pause
Shames us
Challenges us
“Why?”
Two poems, two decades apart. In between was the unspeakable carnage of Parkland and Newtown, and far too many others. America, we must make this stop.
© Ron Cooper 2021
Ron Cooper 
Ron- your poems are so powerful and moving. They capture the overwhelming pain and heartbreak, terror and senselessness. You are very gifted. I feel like I have just been punched in the gut- the sign that a very good writer was here.
Amy Durham E: slimsma339@gmail.com
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