All Nonfiction
- Bullying
- Books
- Academic
- Author Interviews
- Celebrity interviews
- College Articles
- College Essays
- Educator of the Year
- Heroes
- Interviews
- Memoir
- Personal Experience
- Sports
- Travel & Culture
All Opinions
- Bullying
- Current Events / Politics
- Discrimination
- Drugs / Alcohol / Smoking
- Entertainment / Celebrities
- Environment
- Love / Relationships
- Movies / Music / TV
- Pop Culture / Trends
- School / College
- Social Issues / Civics
- Spirituality / Religion
- Sports / Hobbies
All Hot Topics
- Bullying
- Community Service
- Environment
- Health
- Letters to the Editor
- Pride & Prejudice
- What Matters
- Back
Summer Guide
- Program Links
- Program Reviews
- Back
College Guide
- College Links
- College Reviews
- College Essays
- College Articles
- Back
Blood-Red, White, and Blue
There was an old woman
She lived across the street
Threatened with machine guns
Powerful as heartbeats
That took place in a world
Four thousand miles away
I’ve not gone back lately
But recall what we’d say
That in America
The streets were safe to walk
Kids playing in driveways
Painting their worlds with chalk
And when I first moved here
A townhouse and palm trees
I felt so excited
To stand in the light breeze
When I first got to school
The first days of third grade
Were filled with newfound joy
Recess and playground games
But I remember the
First bomb drill I survived
When the siren rang out
My friends didn’t think twice
But the loud noise scared me
This drill felt surreal
I clung to the teacher
We marched to a field
When I reached middle school
We’d start every morning
Pledging our allegiance
To our state and country
But by then we had learned
The way to react when
Our teachers told us that
Our safety was threatened
We’d turn all the lights off
And sit by the back wall
We never knew if it
Was practice or real
So when kids in Parkland
Twenty minutes away
Got gunned down like targets
We relived our training
I am now in high school
Older than most victims
Who were born before me
But lost their right to live
Each of my classrooms comes
With lockdown equipment
We’ve rehearsed what to do
When a shooter comes in
When I wake up each day
And step onto campus
I know education
Comes rife with lethal risks
The murders on the news
And shootings on TV
Have made me feel numb
With each headline I grieve
But I can’t help but think
Of the kid I once was
The one whose heart pounded
At the mere thought of guns
When I immigrated
To the United States
I packed bundles of hope
Inside of my suitcase
I carried promises
That I thought would hold true
But found proud devotion
To blood-red, white, and blue
Similar Articles
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
This article has 0 comments.