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The Ripple Effect
One by one,
Like ripples in a pool,
A scream for help, and a yell to run,
Rarely happens in the morning sun,
The darkness covers the earth like a blanket, and the night is quiet,
Crickets emerge and motor their legs to make their nightly calls,
And until the sleeping child wakes, we won’t know who falls,
Shirts drenched from the blood of an opened wound,
I’ve been hearing these loud sounds since June,
They used to always make me jump and worry,
Now my hears only recognize them as but another sound in the night,
Something that no longer gives a 5 year old much fright,
Not just 1, 2 or even 3, it’s always about 8 or maybe 18,
For reasons such as colors, and words said without meaning,
It’s always new blood the next day that we’re left cleaning,
From the sidewalks, houses, stores, and playgrounds,
You’re almost never able to escape these sounds,
One by one,
Like ripples in a pool,
A scream for help, and a yell to run,
It seems like every ones chances are little to none,
The night is quiet, but, oh! So young,
Young men of all colors,
Defending their colors,
Stealing the lives away from others,
Unfinished stories, and loved ones left with broken hearts,
It’s hard to believe this is only where it starts,
Where it ends is a mystery, and by then this poem could be history,
One by one,
Like ripples in a pool,
We’ll all fall down,
Thanks to that one, dumb fool.
