Bloody Waves Poem by Macie Lewis

The crying mother appears on the screen.
'Not my baby, ' she screams,
As if it'll make a difference.
Her baby is dead, life ended
By the heat of a bullet.

I look down at my stomach,
Flat as it can be.
I'm not even pregnant,
But I still think
'What if one day that's me? '

Do I mean the child,
Being prepared for a coffin?
Or do I mean the mother,
Kissing her child goodbye?
It scares me that I do not know.

I don't think of the world as safe.
Not anymore, anyway.
After all, why should I
When people are slaughtered
In bloody waves?

I refuse to be lulled to sleep
By such waves
I refuse to be content to say
'There's nothing we could do'
When I could have changed it

So now I will act.
I will not stay quiet.
I will change it.
I will fight
Against gun violence.