Do Something

Can you not hear us?
We can hear you,
“Thoughts and prayers.”
“Thoughts and prayers.”
For how many bodies
on the ground?

“God bless the people of El Paso, you say.
“May God be with all of Dayton,
Charleston, Philadelphia, Orlando,
Sandy Hook, Parkland, Atlanta, Bolder,
Buffalo, and Uvalde.”
On and
      On and
           On and
                  On. 

Sadly, we plead to 
stone-deaf politicians.
No answers, only rancid rhetoric,
followed by dead silence.
Except for,
“Thoughts and prayers.” 
“Thoughts and prayers.”
“We are heartbroken.”

How many more? 
How much more?
Hate and anger like molten
metal spilling hot and fiery, 
torching the earth. 

We are the voices of the dead.
That’s our blood smeared
 on your walls.
 Our bone shards scattered
 on your streets. 

From our graves we shout,
“Do something. Do something.”
Too late for us, but for the living
Please. Please. Please.

Jean Rover…

…is the authorof Touch the Sky, a heart-rending novel, filled with intrigue, about a missing child in Oregon’s backcountry. Her writing has received awards or recognition from Writer’s Digest, Short Story America, Willamette Writers, Oregon Writers Colony, and the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). Her work has appeared in various literary magazines and anthologies, including the Saturday Evening Post’s Great American Fiction Contest Anthology. Other stories were performed at Liars’ League events in London, England and Portland, Oregon. She has also authored a chapbook, Beneath the Boughs Unseen, featuring holiday stories about society’s invisible people. She lives and writes in Oregon’s lush Willamette Valley.

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