This story will serve as an update for the events, comments and other information that comes into our newsroom on Friday.
8/9 10 p.m. Update
Alamo Donates Proceeds from ANY Movie on Weds or Thurs to El PasoVictims Relief Fund
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Montecillo and all of the employees of Triple Tap Ventures were deeply saddened by the events, which occurred in El Paso on Saturday. The tragedy has affected an outpouring of sadness, caring and support for victims of this senseless act and their families.
For anyone who is still looking for ways to help, Alamo Drafthouse is assisting in raising funds for the Paso del Norte Community Foundation’s Victims Relief Fund.
Moviegoers in El Paso may choose a ticket price of $5, $7 or $10 to any movie being screened on Wednesday, August 14, and Thursday, August 15, 2019 at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Montecillo.
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Montecillo will donate 100 percent of ticket sale proceeds from those two days to the Paso del Norte Community Foundation’s Victims Relief Fund.
Purchase tickets: drafthouse.com/el-paso or on the Alamo Drafthouse app.
In addition, now through August 25, guests at all Alamo Drafthouse Cinema locations across Texas can choose to make $1, $3, or $5 contributions via a donation add-on feature every time they purchase tickets via drafthouse.com or the Alamo Drafthouse app.
All statewide donations will go to the Paso del Norte Community Foundation’s Victims Relief Fund, which is partnered directly with the City of El Paso.
Alamo Drafthouse stands with our neighbors in the El Paso community in support of the victims and their families during this extremely difficult time.
#ElPasoStrong
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8/9 5 p.m. Update
Officials with Paso del Norte Community Foundation provide update on Victims’ Fund
Via a Friday afternoon news release, officials with the Paso del Norte Community Foundation shared that donations to their El Paso Victims Relief Fund pushed the total to nearly $2m dollars, with more donations expected.
The outpouring of support has been extraordinary with more than $1.8 million in donations of gifts large and small received to date from more than 3,400 donors, with additional contributions expected over the coming days and weeks.
To contribute to the fund, click here.
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$100,000 Donation by Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino
Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino is donating $100,000 to be distributed between the El Paso Community Foundation’s El Paso Shooting Victims’ Fund and the Paso del Norte Community Foundation’s El Paso Victims Relief Fund. The gift is intended to support the many victims of the mass shooting which recently shook the US-Mexico border region which includes the city of El Paso as well as the surrounding counties in southern New Mexico. Sunland Park, New Mexico borders the city of El Paso, Texas.
“As a part of the greater El Paso area, we feel very connected to this close-knit community,” said Ethan Linder, director of marketing for Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino. “Many of our employees and most of our visitors live in El Paso, so we’ve all really been impacted by this terrible tragedy. That’s why we didn’t think twice about making this donation that will go to help our friends and neighbors.”
Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino is also encouraging others to donate as well. “If you’re able, we invite everyone to make a donation, no matter the amount, every little bit helps,” said Linder. “This is a time for everyone in our area to come together and support one another.”
Linder added that in the coming days and weeks, Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino will be announcing plans for a benefit event to help raise additional funds to assist those affected by the shooting which took place in El Paso on Saturday, August 3.
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Brave Books organizes our “Frontera Rising Youth Writing Invitational”
Our locally-owned indy bookstore Brave Books is in the process of undertaking a mammoth project reaching out to El Paso’s youth in an effort to bring healing to El Pasoans and Juárenses though the process of writing, reading and sharing.
Ron Charles, who writes about books and publishing for the Washington Post (content re-posted below – courtesy Washington Post Book Club) reached out to us on Wednesday asking if our bookstore had any events or projects scheduled in light of our tragedy last Saturday.
“Brave Books opened in El Paso, just five months ago. Now, as the city tries to recover from the mass shooting on Aug. 3 that killed 22 people and wounded dozens more, that name seems especially inspired.
Graphic designer Jud Burgess and his wife, Laurie, started Brave Books to help enrich one of America’s least literate cities.
“We wanted to make a difference,” Jud tells me, “one person at a time.” This week, that meant simply being present. “People were coming and just relaxing,” he says. “I think people just needed to come somewhere where they felt safe and peaceful. It’s almost like comfort food, but it’s more like ‘comfort reading,’ I guess. They came by and just hung around. It was really nice, you know, to have a little community.”
Moving forward, Jud and Laurie are planning a community project called the Frontera Rising Youth Writing Invitational. (“Frontera” is Spanish for “border.”) Middle and high school students in El Paso and its sister city, Juarez, Mexico, will be invited to submit short statements — in English or Spanish — about how they’re feeling.
All the statements will appear on the store’s website, and some of the writers will be invited to read in the store.
“Our goal is to engage our youth on both sides of the border to participate in writing that contributes to their personal growth and healing in light of our tragedy,” Jud says. “Their words, whether positive or negative, as long as they are honest, will reflect to all of us what has gone down in the history of our city.”
Brave Books | 915.204.7074 | 1307 Arizona, El Paso, TX 79902
Hours: Wednesday through Saturday noon – 7 p.m. | Sundays noon – 5 p.m.
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Tenet Healthcare Foundation to Present $100k to El Paso Shooting Victim’s Relief Fund
To support the El Paso community, the parent company of The Hospitals of Providence will formally present a $100,000 contribution to the El Paso Shooting Victims’ Relief Fund on Monday, Aug. 12.
In addition to the $100,000 donation from the Tenet Healthcare Foundation to the El Paso Community Foundation, a donation fund for its employees across the country has been established and will match employee contributions up to $50,000. The dollar figure raised so far by hospital employees will also be announced at the news conference.
During the presentation, Ron Rittenmeyer, executive chairman and CEO for Tenet Healthcare, will offer words of gratitude and encouragement to physicians, first responders and hospital providers.
8/9 A.M. Update
Proper Printshop donates $50k earned from sales of memorial shirts to Victims’ Fund
Selling the now-iconic El Paso Strong tee shirts, with the star on the mountain across the front, Proper Print Shop announced they had made the first donation to the El Paso Community Foundation.
Via a Facebook post, officials shared the good news with a picture of the check.
Thank you El Paso! We made our first donation today to the El Paso Community Foundation Victims Fund.
$50,000
We are honored that you have trusted us to help the community share it’s true voice. It’s been an extremely busy week and we will continue working as long as we need to to catch up with all of the demand from the community.
Thank you @viva.la.mocha and @emedesignstudio for your vision and talents.
Thank you @elpasocf for your leadership.
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Teacher’s Federal Credit Union announces charity account,will match first $25k
Via an email to members, officials with Teacher’s Federal Credit Union announced their plans for donation to the growing victims’ fund.
Together we can support our community. TFCU will match the first $25,000 donated to the TFCU charity account, where 100% of the proceeds will benefit the El Paso Shooting Victims Fund.
Members of the community can donate at any TFCU branch now through August 31.
We are all #ElPasoStrong.
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Haircuts for Donations
This Sunday 8/11 from 11am-5pm at Blessed Barber Studio East El Paso,
We will be cutting hair for Donations and 100% proceeds will be donated to the affected families of the tragedy that occurred 8/03 in El Paso.
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915 United to hold benefit cruise Friday evening
Event is scheduled to star at 7:30 in the parking lot of FourWheel Parts (11751 Gateway West Blvd) all information is below.
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$30k Donated by Austin Software Co. for Shooting Victims
Platinum Software Labs (PSL) is donating $30,000 to Paso Del Norte Community Foundation to support the victims of the El Paso Walmart mass shooting that occurred on Saturday August 3, 2019.
El Paso is one of three cities in Texas that our engineers and executives call home and have been deeply affected by this heinous event that struck our community and nation.
“We are deeply saddened by the horrific events that occurred this past Saturday in both the Dayton, Ohio and El Paso communities,” said Platinum Software Labs board of directors. “Not only did this event strike the hearts of our communities and nation, but the hearts of us at Platinum Software Labs. We will do our part to ensure that we all heal from this despicable act against humanity. During this tragic time, we will work with the El Paso community leaders and partners to identify opportunities to support the victims of this senseless act of violence.”
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COMMENTS / EMAILS from around the world supporting El Paso.
via email from John C. in San Antonio
A Reflection on El Paso
The devastation in El Paso, one in a continuing string of such sick events over many years, prompts this reflection.
I submit that these events have hundreds of causes, but there are (8) root causes which have eased into our culture in the past couple of decades making our society one of the most violent in the world. This is primarily a self-inflicted complex cultural problem where we must avoid the thoughtless tendency of many to cast blame in only one or two directions. That is not helpful.
Let us be honest and face the uncomfortable, unvarnished truth.
I’ll begin with the most fundamental root cause. We have drifted from our faiths and relationship with God. God has been taken out of our schools and much of the public arena. Many of us have deserted Him. There is an outright hostility to God from certain quarters. Church attendance is down. The secularization of America is in full swing.
Cause #2: We do not uniformly respect life. The most recent data from the Texas Department of State Health Services shows that 53,481 abortions were performed in Texas in 2016. We blithely tolerate these killings because we rationalize them as “choice” and they are not as feverishly reported as the El Paso shootings were reported because the law facilitates them. How can Americans be so impervious to all that killing of unborn persons yet so sensitive to the killing of 22 born persons? The hypocrisy, the double-standard, is extraordinary.
Cause #3: America, like every country in the world, has its fair share of people with emotional, psychological, and mental disabilities or afflictions who can be, and often are, highly susceptible to the constant stream of violent messaging. We can only guess at the anger and frustrations many keep bottled in. Many lack care, medication, and or counseling. And to make the situation worse, family and or friends who know of these disadvantaged folks sometimes do not reach for help for reasons of fear, ignorance, embarrassment, or rationalized tolerance. Mental healthcare must become a higher priority.
Cause #4: The family, as the core institution of our society, is in decline. According to Pew Research the share of U.S. children living with an unmarried parent has more than doubled since 1968, jumping from 13% to 32% in 2017. That trend has been accompanied by a drop in the share of children living with two married parents, down from 85% in 1968 to 65%. The rise in U.S. children living with either cohabiting or solo parents is due in part to long-term declines in marriage, as well as increases in births outside of marriage. Single motherhood has grown so common in America that today 80 percent of single-parent families are headed by single mothers — nearly a third of those live in poverty. Fatherhood is under attack.
Cause #5: W e have come to revel in violent entertainment. You have seen the movies, TV programs, videos, games, action figures, and the toys. The more blasting, blowing up, bombs, fireballs, explosions, stuff flying through the air, and blood the better. Mayhem sells. If we, the market, buy these products someone will continue making them. What are you buying for your children, and what are you letting them buy? What are you, the business owner, putting on your shelves?
Cause #6: We have quite a sophisticated array of available weaponry, amply demonstrated via our entertainment choices. I am a big supporter of the 2nd Amendment, “A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” I am also an NRA member—but, understanding the gravity of the other seven causes, management of the access to arms is overdue and needs work. As a Vietnam combat veteran I’m quite familiar with assault weapons. They have no place in the general population.
Cause #7: Terrorism has been a fact of life for decades. Acts of terror come into our living rooms, our Smartphone, and over the Internet in great detail. Horrific acts from all over the globe serve as models that can easily inspire those with grievances or those harboring perceived wrongs to do the same. Don’t throw up your hands, because we do have the ability to deter terrorism by eliminating it at its source. Support those initiatives.
Cause #8: We have become a coarse society. We see it in a decline of civility. Dispute resolution has evolved from words—to knives or guns. Someone who now “disses” another is asking for trouble. We see it in road rage, we hear it in increased profanity, and we experience it in rude customer service. We now have anger management seminars as the solution of choice.
These eight causes are a toxic mix, a lethal cultural brew whose consequences should not be a surprise to anyone. We are reaping what we have sown.
These events will continue. We’re averaging about five such events a year. Expect more. Don’t expect solutions from government. Culture change is a bottoms-up driven phenomena, not top down. The most effective healing will begin with you, the reader…parents, students, educators, municipalities, mental health providers, business owners, pastors and rabbis. I urge you to rise to the occasion and be a culture change activist in regard to all these causes.
John C.
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Via email from Al C. in Florida
Enough is Enough- Do Something
There are now over 40,000 gun deaths a year in US. Since 2010 there have been 1712 Mass Shootings with 1189 killed and 3630 wounded. Many were children. We have had mass shootings every week, sometimes several. As the new school year is about to begin, many parents as part of their children’s school supplies are buying bulletproof backpacks and active shooter drills are now part of the curriculum at most schools
It is time to end this new normal of Slaughter by Second Amendment with its images of blood flowing from bullet-riddled bodies with gaping wounds, sightless eyes of the dead, screams of the wounded and the wails of the grieving splashed across our TV screens night after night after night. Do Something!
To all of you cowardly Lawmakers- grow a backbone, be courageous and do something about this. Sen. Mitch McConnell do your job. Let the bipartisan bills you are holding hostage go to the Senate floor! In response to all of current and past mass shootings, you and many of your fellow Lawmakers have only offered insincere expressions of somber statements of concern and heartfelt assurances that your thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families and their communities. PR Pablum! The blood of these victims are on your hands. Do Something!
Today any crazed idiot or domestic terrorist can go into any gun shop or online or at gun shows and buy whatever weapon and as many as he wants. He can then go into any public place or school and slaughter as many people as he can until the police show up. That could be you or me. Lawmaker’s inaction at the state and federal level is threatening everyone’s security. You have helped create the toxic society we are forced to live in that has 42% of the world’s guns, some of the weakest controls over who can buy a gun and what sorts of guns can be owned, and a president who never misses an opportunity to fan the fires of fear and hatred constantly bullying of people of color, asylum seekers, immigrants, refugees, countries and religions and has signaled to his followers that defending our country by mowing down non-whites and people who do not agree with him is patriotic. President Trump you are partially responsible what happened in El Paso, Texas, Dayton, Ohio and many other places because of your rhetoric. Guns kill, people kill and your rhetoric President Trump kills. I hope you are proud of what you helped create President Trump.
Acton is needed now. What is needed is to pass common-sense gun legislation such as enhanced and comprehensive background checks including gun shows, three-day waiting period, raising the age of gun ownership to 21, nationwide gun-free schools, banning assault rifles and large-capacity magazines. Additional funds to expand Mental Health Services to find, help and provide treatment so those who need so this does not happen again. Do Something!
My wish for those lawmakers that continue to support the status quo of empty words and no action, is like Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth, may you wonder eternally through the hallways of power trying and failing to wash away the blood of the innocent on your hands who you could have saved. May your dreams be filled with the sounds, images and screams of the wounded and dying people you could have save if you had acted. Do Something!
“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless.
Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”
Dietrich Bonhoe
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Dear President Trump:
Please accept these comments as an introduction of who we are as Mexican Americans. I can only speak for myself so I will tell you about me, but please understand that my history is the same as that of millions of others who share the appellation of “Mexican American.”
I was born in the spring of 1942, just as the first streak of light burst past the mountain ridges of central Mexico and into the valley to the west. I was born a mestizo and my birth was not only the beginning of my own personal history, but the continuation of a truly American narrative.
I am a child of the half millennium, the new race created in the New World by the mixing of the Spanish and the indigenous after the Spanish Conquest of Tenotchtitlán I came into this world as part of two people, each with a long trajectory forged by deep, fanatical, religious, political and cultural beliefs that gave birth to a new culture – one that has survived the dramatic cleavages which have characterized the development of the mestizo in the New World.
My birth and my development is a testament to the strength and vitality of this new culture, one forged by the indigenous people whose land was taken away by those who had come with the Cross and the Sword.
It is these people who have forged my destiny, one which is woven into a history that transcends two worlds, two cultures, two religions and two ways of looking at the world. It is a history that lay dormant for centuries, decimated by the European invaders, but one which has survived by the creation of a different type of historical being – the mestizo.
It is a people that have been formed over centuries and in conflict, and one which today seek its legitimate place in the historical development of this land.
When I was born, the world of the people which over two centuries had forged my history had come to an end. I came into a world that was being shaped by novel forces alien to the ones which had shaped my ancestors. My history was being shaped by Americans calling themselves capitalists; Germans calling themselves Nazis, Italians calling themselves Fascists, Russians calling themselves Communists, and Japanese calling themselves Imperialists — all deeming themselves to being children of destiny.
They believed it was they who were destined to shape the new world order and all carried within themselves social and political ideologies designed to push the world of my ancestors into historical anonymity.
My birth came at a time when history had become dysfunctional and whose events impacted the universe, giving the impression my own world no longer served as the moral compass through which my ancestors guided their lives. Yet, I consider my birth to be a resurrection of the Spanish/Mexican history which had shaped the destiny of my ancestors. I was deprived of this history by the Anglo-American conquerors which now controlled my life, and my life is proof that history cannot be departmentalized and that it must be seen in its totality and in its continuity.
I was born a product of the Aztec warriors, of the Spanish Conquistadores, and of the deities of Tlaloc, Huitzilopochtli and Quetzalcoatl, but I also am a product of the Roman Catholic Church, the European Enlightenment, of Martin Luther, of John Locke, of the French Revolution, of the Declaration of Independence, and of the Constitution of the United States.
I am the creation of the Criollo patriots who claimed Mexican independence, and the indigenous people who shed their blood and tears to build the New Spain their conquerors demanded, just as I was forged by manifest destiny, the Louisiana Purchase, and the xenophobia in the Anglo American historical narrative. I am heir to the millions of people who throughout the ages crisscrossed the Rio Grande – immigrants dealing with the life fate had bestowed upon them.
I was born in the spring of 1942 but my history began much earlier than that, and when I die my death will be the end of my personal story but my life will now attach itself to the historical continuum of my family. I believe there is a reason for each of our lives, that they are inter-connected, and that history has a purpose, otherwise each one of our lives would be without reason or rationale, an isolated, meaningless blimp in the all-encompassing transgression of time.
In my death, my history will weave itself into a part of the World Historical Spirit which Hegel, the German philosopher, says gives each one of our lives meaning and provides for the ultimate design of the world. It is a spirit that moves us to be better human beings, to be just and to be happy. I pray that my life will move history in that direction.
Again, Mr.President, this is my story, but it is also that of the millions of others who, like me, are part of the children of the half-millennium. I know that in the end the racist ideology you profess will be nothing more than a meaningless footnote in the World Historical Spirit that guides mankind in our earthly journey.
Sincerely,
Fernando Piñón Gaytán is a retired journalist and professor of political science at San Antonio College and Adjunct at UTSA; and an author of several books.
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via Facebook from Justin N.
This has been one of the hardest week of my life. El Paso is an amazing town with great people, with most of whom racism is an non-issue and where I have made amazing friends.
Saturday was supposed to be a celebration for a great friend, which in many ways was overshadowed as others I knew may have been in Walmart and good friends were there to end the shooting as officers of the law. While at the party, I spent hours on the phone about how we respond and care for those impacted, all while worrying about what was happening a couple of miles away.
This week quickly turned from packing to move and start a new adventure to providing 70ish hours of crisis treatment to those impacted: those in the store, those who responded, and the city as a whole. For years I have researched, read, profiled, and written about shootings like this, but this is the first that has had a personal impact.
The first to make me cry, to make me question how would I explain what happened to my daughter were she older.
The heartbreaking part is El Paso is a peaceful town. Last year there were 23 murders in El Paso: yes, one more than died in the shooting, in a place with a population of close to a million people. Worse has been what I have seen since the shooting; what has begun to happen here and begun to sweep away the beauty of the people.
A shooter came from Dallas to spread evil hatred here, something relatively foreign. The immediate response was so great and so much kindness; blood banks had to ask people to make appointments, volunteers were asked to not come because there were too many, people were asked to stop bringing supplies because they had so much they couldn’t store them.
I have heard so many stories and what has begun to happen is heart breaking: hatred has begun to grow.
Whites and blacks against Mexicans who don’t speak perfect English. Hispanics spewing hate filled statements fearing the white kid will kill Mexican classmates.
This isn’t El Paso; El Paso is a city of kindness, acceptance, and safety, even poised yards from one of the deadliest cities in the world. What has changed? Fear. Fear based in the hatred of the outside world, racism, blaming, and evil. Not bred from within, but based on the ramblings of politicians who want to see this tragedy as a way to get elected.
El Pasoans are faced with fear and disbelief because the outside invaded and now they are being spurred on by the outside world in a way which didn’t happen before. What is the answer? There only exists one answer and that is solidarity.
You see El Paso is a weird place where you have hundreds of thousands of people and they are more caring and connected in most ways than the town of 2,000 I left to move here. What we need is to understand it isn’t about what started all this, it is about who this town is.
It isn’t about blaming one person, or one side, it is about viewing this as a community problem and embracing that the answer is to draw together, not divide apart. I love this town, it has felt more like home in many ways after 2 years than Kansas did after 40.
I would hate to see the act of one evil boy cause this amazing city to die. I would hate for people from other places, be it the shooter or the politicians on either side, tear apart what El Paso is.
We will heal. Yes, we, as I consider myself more an El Pasoan than a Kansan, but I hope El Paso strong means old El Paso, not just a strong city which is no longer El Paso.
To me that is the core of #ElPasoProud, that El Paso is a proud city, ignored by most of Texas, but proud of its heritage and its melting pot of culture.
I pray it stays the isolated beauty in the desert and doesn’t become like every other, with the only exception being that it is isolated in the desert.
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via email from John O.
I would first like to show my great respect and appreciation for the bravery, heroic actions and the remarkable job of all the first responders, doctors and all medical personnel during the heinous act that occurred in my home town, with that being said I was very disappointed with the photo ops with trump meeting with first responders with the fake hand shaking, back slapping and laughing with this person who has besmirch the Hispanic community with his vile and hateful rhetoric. These hateful racist words have caused the deaths of the innocents in your community and he was only in your city to divide you all even further and create even more pain. The photo ops of the medical and law enforcement first responders made me upset and not for any fault of their own (orders are orders) but they should have stood with the citizens who are hurting and scared, who did not want him there in your beautiful city. El Paso has always been a city that is open and accepting, but evil is evil and you cannot make this person into what he is not, kind, caring or sympathetic. This trip was just a ploy, while he was meeting with those in El Paso he was giving the order to his immigration enforcement to raid and eventually arrest 680 individuals in Louisiana, leaving hundreds of children without anyone to take care of them, this shows how he really feels about Hispanics whether migrants or U.S. citizens. To all the great law enforcement officers and first responders of the great state and city be proud but remember you are also part of your friends, family and citizens who look up to you, please stand with them and not with that person who sees himself as president for only some of the people.
J.J. Lobos
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via email from Lin Frog W.
Hello El Paso,
I and so many around the country and world are grieving with you. We wish you blessings and love in your healing.
Saturday night my heart was aching. I am a poet, and released the thoughts in words, and wished to share them with you. I just spoke with John, and asked him if the El Paso Herald-Post printed poetry, so I am sending this. You are welcome to print it if you think it is appropriate and may be healing to someone.
The following morning when I woke, I saw the headline, and thought, “9 people passed on in El Paso, not 20.” Then I read it again, and could not believe my eyes. My heart fell again . . . someone once again took a gun to life on Earth. I will print the second poem under the poem composed Saturday night. You are welcome to print the second poem also if you feel it is appropriate.
Peace, Love and many blessings to the wonder of beautiful El Paso
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SEEKING LOVE
I heard the sound of hate, and there’s pain my heart.
AK47.
Traveled far to kill . . . At an El Paso Walmart.
. . Try to find a way to express with this pen.
And the words ache as they travel through my soul.
Another mass shooting.
Twenty, and counting . . . The death toll . . .
Just another day in America.
Thoughts and prayers will be soothing
All those who lost a friend
Or family . . . And all who survived.
Healing words many will send
After a shooting, once again, hate inspired.
As most grasp for a reason.
Hold close the ones we love.
Hunting humans in season
All year round, we know of
Another life passing.
Others living with the memories
Of a shooting they survived, and are grasping,
For reasons they lived. Will someone explain please
Why we all come from the Earth,
But some desire a reason to find difference.
Anger and often actions they rehearse,
Until in time they dispense
Gunfire to send their message.
Maybe there are words that could change
Their minds and actions . . . that take them to the edge
Of where life they arrange.
. . . And maybe these are only words.
And maybe they are only actions.
Both praying for hearts to be heard,
But into the darkness a message runs
With no communication in between.
Try to build a bridge that will meet.
Where eyes can be seen
And voices heard to defeat
The darkness . . .where lives change forever.
All life speaks similar thoughts.
With voices praying they never
Are forgotten . . . Is love all that is ever sought?
©️ August 3, 2019 Lin Frog
PARASITE
Go to sleep with the sound of gunfire ringing in our ears.
Blood still spattered all around the site in El Paso.
Wake to the news of another massacre and fears
Of more to come as blood scars Dayton, Ohio.
And it almost seems a dream.
Though all too real.
Hate fills one, but it seems
Love and open hearts are the majority who feel
This pain . . . And guns take priority
In our country, their reign
Fill the pockets of the majority
Of those in power as they stain
The soul of our country, with innocent blood.
Families and friends grieving
Across America, tears flood
For those we have never met . . . Keep believing
Someone will open their eyes.
Or are they too filled with greed?
How do they sleep? To compromise
Life . . . for the money they “need.”
And children go to school each day.
Drills teach of possible ambush.
Recall when they used to play
But now the sounds of killing crush
The air . . . Listen for another tale
Of shooting in the distance.
Pray a troubled mind does not assail
Close to home, and take a stance.
For their “cause,” and spill the blood and dreams
That so many have known.
Simple solutions it seems,
But has the hatred grown
Out of control.
A parasite on our country.
Another shooting to take its toll
In the land of the free
. . . As the sound of gunfire echoes free.
August 5, 2019 ©️ Lin Frog
El Paso Herald-Post El Paso News & Opinion
