Former Sandy Hook Student Pens Heartfelt Poem for Victims of Gun Violence
NEW HAVEN, CT (February 23, 2018) – Earlier this week, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) received a poem by Geneva Cunningham, a 9th grade student at Hopkins School in New Haven who witnessed the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut when she was in 4th grade. DeLauro shared Geneva's poem during her remarks at a press conference this morning calling on Congress to take up meaningful legislation to address gun violence.
Below is Geneva's poem:
Pure;
A mother called her child
Kissing his forehead
On his way to school
For the boy
It was a normal day
Until the darkness came
And swept the light away
We did not ask for this
We did not ask to hear gunshots
In slamming doors
And dropping books
We did not ask
To witness the murders
Of the children
We played with at recess
We did not know
That our teacher
Had taught us our final lesson
And we believed her
When she said
The red spilling from her foot
Was only paint
Sweet ignorance
The honey in our poisoned tea
The salt we mistook for sugar
But where do we draw the line?
Between knowledge and ignorance
When do we know to cover our eyes
When the darkness
Begins to swallow us whole
We united this country
By stating
"We are one"
And on that principle
Our forefathers said
You may "bear arms" to fight against them
You may defend
Against them
But who is this them?
If we are one
Who are we fighting against?
If we are one
And who are we defending?
If we are taking lives to begin with
Because killing is still killing
The number of lives lost
Is no victory
On our own soil
Or on any soil
We say we are equals
So who gets the power
To decide
Who lives and who dies?
Because by giving open access to these weapons
We are giving power
To trembling hands
And these hands
Were the ones to take the life of the little boy
The day he was learning
How to read
These machines were not designed for play
They were designed to kill
If we use them on the battlefield
If they can take a life
Then they are not worth it
Because I promise you
A life is worth more
Than any machine
Used for fun
Yet we bear these weapons
We claim that we enjoy
The crack
At the end of the rifle
Yeah, it may seem fun
On the other side
But what if
You were on the opposite end?
Begging
Pleading
Crying out
For your life
For the lives of your friends
For the lives of your classmates
For the life of your teacher
We must be sure
Whose fingers we can trust
On the trigger
Because that choice
May determine
Your life
The lives of your friends
The lives of your family
And the lives of those you love
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