Depth of Consciences

On By Baydreamer - Lauren ScottIn Poetry, Tragedies

I childishly cover
my ears with
icy hands while
imagining this to be
only a frightening
nightmare, not a
recurring tragedy
becoming the norm
The answer lies
within the depth
of consciences,
but when will we
be enlightened?
Must we continue
to quantify these
senseless losses?
Kind sentiments
are appreciated,
but they haven’t
been enough to
stop the rounds
So, please…

Lauren Scott © 2018

Numbers based on preliminary reports and may change.
Last updated: May 18, 2018 – Source: CNN
We’re only 20 weeks into 2018, and there have already been 22 school shootings where someone was hurt or killed. That averages out to more than 1 shooting a week.

The parameters CNN followed in this count are:
  • A shooting that involved at least one person being shot (not including the shooter)
  • A shooting that occurred on school grounds
  • We included grades K through college/university level
  • We included gang violence, fights and domestic violence
  • We included accidental discharge of a firearm as long as the first two parameters are met


(Honoring those lives affected by Friday’s
shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas,
and all mass shootings prior to this tragic event.)
💔

 

42 thoughts on “Depth of Consciences”

  1. For so many decades poets and song writers have covered this tragic recurrence of violence. When will it ever go.
    Believe me, across the Atlantic we feel the sorrow too and the bewilderment
    that it is made possible.

    1. Thanks for your support, Miriam. I’m beginning to feel like things won’t change, which is tragic in its own right. My husband and I didn’t grow up in this mass shooting culture and neither did our children. So, it’s appalling to think the children and teens of today have to worry about their safety at school, let alone generations to come. Hope still holds a little place in my heart, and that is what I have to hold onto…

  4. Thank goodness we don’t have guns making students feel terrified it could happen to them in school or college.
    Knife crime is bad enough in London, recently it’s exploded.

    1. Knife crime is horrible, too, Charlotte. We’ve had that, too, but not as bad as gun violence. The world isn’t exempt from any crime. All places have their share in different methods, and it’s all terrifying…

    1. Thanks, Jill. It’s appalling to think of children dealing with this when my husband and I didn’t, nor did our children. So sad that it seems to be the norm, but I’m still hoping for positive changes. 💜

    1. We’re all wondering the same thing, John, and I understand. I wish there were other button options like there are on Facebook. 🙂 Thank you for your kind words.

  8. I’m with you, Lauren, in this expression of pain and anguish. I can’t see an end to this, not only in America but everywhere, and there’s nothing significant anyone can do about weapons, it’s just too late.

    Thank you for this fine sharing.

    Big hugs

    john

    1. Thanks for your feedback, John. I’m beginning to feel like you, too. But that’s resignation of a whole new, terrifying culture younger generations have to live with. So, I’ll continue to hope for an end in sight. I do believe that guns are going to be found by the wrong people if they want them badly enough; we can’t keep them out of the wrong hands 100%. But things can be done to at least make it more difficult. And then there is the issue of mental illness. Sigh…Thanks for your kind words and hugs back…

  9. A sad state of affairs for your country. I don’t think ti’s ever going to change until the politicians and lawmakers are held accountable.

  10. The statistics are shocking Lauren…22 school shootings in 20 weeks!
    I appreciate your poetic appeal but who is listening? I wonder how much human values would erode further! And what message are they conveying to younger generation?
    Thanks for highlighting the issue dear friend.

    1. Hi Balroop,
      Yes, the statistics are shocking. I don’t know who is listening, and many people have touched on this issue in various art forms. It’s the leaders who hold power that need to make changes, but I don’t know what it will take. Maybe if they were directly affected? I can’t even imagine how parents deal and cope with losing a child in one of these shootings. It’s unfathomable. Thanks so much for your feedback. ❤

  11. We the people are responsible for the leaders we put in positions of power. Positions which have the power to remedy much of societies problems. When we knowingly elect people who we realize will not solve these problems as they seek to balance opinions we the people are to be held responsible for the outcome.

    1. I couldn’t have said it better, Ian.
      Michelle had a good thought, too. What if the leaders lost one of their children? Would they be inclined to then make changes? Otherwise, what will it take? Too many young lives have been lost. It just doesn’t make sense…

  12. So beautifully said, Lauren. Ian said it all in his response. Our lawmakers sit with deaf ears to the violence while padding their pockets. It’s time to rout them out of office. I often wonder, if it were one of their own, would we be sitting here today hearing of more senseless shootings. Love and hugs.

    1. Thanks, Michelle, and yes, Ian said it well, and I also like what you mentioned…if it were one of their own…What on earth will it take for them to make changes? How do parents deal with such a tragedy? It’s unimaginable. Sending love and hugs to you, too…

  13. The horror and disbelief never changes when hearing of such atrocities, feelings that defy the fact that these events are ‘becoming the norm’. Your poem portrays the shock and reaction most of us feel, and that icy feeling of the hands spreads to one heart of absolute despair. You end with ‘so please…’ a plea for so much, ultimately for an end to the nightmare. Heartfelt writing, Lauren, that touches us all. hugs xx

    1. Thanks so much for your wonderful comment, Annika. And you’re right, the horror doesn’t change just because the event is new. They’re all the same – senseless with the same outcome…young lives lost. Families changed forever. Yes, I ended my poem with a plea for these to end. I love what Kelly Clarkson said on the Billboard Awards, (paraphrasing) that instead of moments of silence, let’s have moments of action! All the thoughts and prayers and the numerous moments of silence have done nothing to stop these events. I could go on and on, but I’ll stop here. Thanks again for your kind words and hugs to you, too. xo

  14. Beautifully written, Lauren. I was and still am so shocked when I heard the latest news. There was so much hope a couple of months ago for change finally to happen, all those young people who demonstrated and were determined to make politicians see sense in their demands. Now I feel this hope is vanishing slowly and I hope the people won’t stop fighting for the right thing. It really is time. 😦

    1. Thanks, Sarah, and I agree with you about feeling hope a few months ago when the students spoke out. Now what? Like Michelle said, it may be a different outcome if the powers to be lost one of their children. No one wishes that to happen, but my goodness, what will it take? So frustrating. I don’t think the fighting will stop, though, but I do feel the right time came years ago when these tragic events began. 😦 Hugs, my friend…

  15. I sigh along with you dear Lauren, and shake my head in despair with you at such tragedies that are still happening on the scales your statistics share.
    I do not know the answers given now your countries gun culture. I ask myself where will it all end, as people accept these statistics as the norm, especially in some areas where shootings happen on a daily basis.
    While here our gun laws are tighter, still we have gun crime, though not on the scale as you do.. But we are seeing in the cities the increase in gangs and knife crime has increased.
    I wonder what HOPE we are giving to a generation that seems to be losing its way..

    Your poem touched me deeply.. But it needs to touch more consciences so that things may change in the future.. Maybe the reason is, that the generation that is being affected by it the most now, may in the future be the instruments of change in the future, After all, they soon will have the power to vote.

    Love and Blessings Lauren.. ❤

    1. Dear Sue,
      Thanks for showing your honest emotions and being on the same page, too. And thanks for your lovely words about my poem. So many artists have expressed their thoughts on this issue, students have stepped up to the podium, and yet, here we are…another school shooting recently behind us.
      I don’t know what the answer is. More gun laws, though, won’t keep the guns out of the wrong hands. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. But there are factors and restrictions that would make the process more difficult. It all comes down to the almighty dollar. The root of all evil or the object that gives options in life. It’s a balancing act.
      The only positive is what you said about the generations affected being the instruments of change in the future. We can only hope. Love and hugs to you, my friend…💗🌼

      1. Yes there will always be those who will get hold of weaponry, but the culture has to change and sad as it is, it may only be these young people whose generation is being affected that may hold that power in the future.. We can only HOPE, and hope some more that laws will make it more difficult to get hold of guns..
        We here can not just go and get a gun.. We have to go through police checks, even farmers and game keepers have to have a police licence and Clay pigeon shooting too.. Your poem indeed touched me, as did hearing about yet another shooting tragedy.. ❤

      2. I agree with all you said, Sue. We have background checks, too, but other factors are involved. Like you mentioned, let’s keep hoping…Thanks again, my friend. 💗💗💗

    1. You’re right, Betty, the whole country is breaking, and the answers are so far away that they still remain obscure. I don’t know what the solution is, but I can only hope the students continue their fight because they have a stronger ability to break down the barrier. Thanks for your kind words and hugs to you, too, my friend…💗🌷

  17. Only a Poet could express these sentiments so eloquently, and so filled with insightful emotion Lauren.
    You have done it well, alas Poets will always have similar subjects to vent their emotions on, if only the world knew that the subject of Love and Peace when written, conveys more than Death and Heartache.

    1. Your comment is wonderful to read this morning, Ian, and I love what you wrote about Love, Peace, Death, and Heartache. So true. We need to continue hoping for a positive change so our children don’t feel afraid to go to school. An absolutely insane thought. Take care…

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