This is not why we are born,
So that our deaths
and the men that make then
can become the next step
in the social medialization of outrage,
the emoji tears for a murder
scattered in bytes and not sliding across skin
Though what else can I offer
if I think
if I pray.
She said the victims, running away,
looked less real than video game characters
fleeing bullets,
but there it is
People died.
The blood in the video was not splattered, graphic ink or false colors.
People died.
Stop and think for a minute
between the coffee memes and cat videos
This is not why their mothers birthed them.
Named them.
Taught them to read, think, trust, love, pray,
Simply to become footnotes
to someone else’s message.
This is not why we are born.
Susan Daniels Poetry 
Hey Susan,
I have few words these days; I think Sandy Hook about did me in. Thanks for speaking. Leo
Know what you mean. I have been too often without words lately.
I’ve felt shut up for too long…
It’s good to here a real voice again
Thanks, Brian. I have been quiet for a while. I think it’s time to start speaking up again.
Can’t add anything to your words. Thanks for speaking them, Susan.
Thank you, Trent. I just wish they hadn’t needed to be said.
I know. But words help us put even horrors into perspective. Lets us deal with them, to some extent.
true.