Duck and cover. / So many of a certain age remember.
There was even a cartoon depicting Bert the Turtle our mascot for safety.
The enemy lurked a continent away
But we were told that Red Starred bombers could reach us
Even at school.
Years later we could laugh that
Ducking under desks and covering our heads would protect us.
Now, we no longer laugh. / Because the enemy does not lurk a continent away.
They do not put red stars on their hats. / Rather they clothe themselves in protective gear.
That can stop a bullet, and also locks in their ghoulish fixation with guns and
high-velocity bullets that can render human flesh Into hamburger.
Troubled and distant, they live amongst us / Shielded from human touch, their armor does that.
They use their munitions to lash out / At children – our grandchildren – in their schools.
And just as hiding under desks could not protect us / From a foreign foe.
No desk can protect our kids / From a metallic hail of rage and hate.
Nor us from the pain, the loss and the sorrow. / From which there is no place to duck or cover.
Parents and teachers — and docs and cops, too — cry out.
In vain. / Nothing to be done, our Elected say.
It’s the law, you see.
Duck and cover. Once more.