The Unforgettable Las Vegas Poem by Elizabeth Padillo Olesen

And their joy turned into screams of horror
Their joy - aborted, stolen, killed and silenced.
Music became "the enemy of the devil".
The grand stage - emptied; notes, scattered;
Musicians and spectators sought for escape.

59 died at the wink of an eye; more than
500 wounded, struggling for their lives.
The world stands in shock and horror!
The shooter is dead, not leaving a trace
on the reason and meaning of his terror.
Victims tell stories of their instant heroes
amidst fear, despair in seeming eternal chaos.

But violence, like in Las Vegas, repeats itself
in our age of terror; in the right of everyone
to buy and keep weapons for self protection;
in the hearts of those who live by hate and revenge,
in the hands of those who play guns as
powerful toys to shoot, kill and destroy…
Our violent films also serve as models.
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October 2,2017