Virginia

Virginia holds her babies
clutched against her chest
and bathes them
from a river filled with tears.

She hears their screams
forever etched upon the winds
that carried all the promises of Spring
before the silent storm that boiled
in a pot unwatched
erupted in a tempest unforeseen.
 
She can’t erase 
the crimson stains left on her mind,
one for every blast that rocked the halls,
destroyed their dreams,
and robbed them of their years

And Virginia 
cries



Janet Reid
april 2007


April 19, 2007 a gunman opened fire at Virginia Tech
killing 32 people, then himself