For Those Who Can No Longer Speak Poem by March Nicks

Dear Emilie,

They say your smile could light up a room
You were bright and creative
An exceptional artist,
Carrying markers and pencils with you everywhere you went
Just so you would never miss an opportunity
To draw a picture or make a card for someone
You loved deeply and cared so much for those around you
At just six years old, those who knew you said that
The world was a better place because you were in it.

I'm sorry that just 11 days before Christmas in 2012
A young man opened fire on your classroom.
Instead of a Christmas Party with gingerbread and hot cocoa
We will be holding a prayer vigil for you and your friends.

Dear Joaquin,

Valentine's Day 2018 didn't go the way you planned
How could you possibly know
That the flowers you purchased for girlfriend
Would become the same flowers
That would we would lay at your grave
They say you were a loyal friend-
No brother.
You were writer, a poet, a creative mind
Ripped from this world way too soon.

I'm sorry that the world will remember you
Not for the words you wrote,
But the ones you would never pen.

Dear Dylan and Eric,

I'm sorry you felt the only way out was by fire
I'm sorry that you were on the outside looking in
With on one on the inside to welcome you in
We could have done better
We should have done better for you

Instead of leaving high school in a cap and gown,
You left Columbine high school in a body bag
Just moments after a school camera
Took witness to you deciding
How you would end your act of vengeance

This should have ended with you,
The two of you
Should have been the last
to feel like there was no way other way
to make things right.
But it hasn't changed.

Emilie Parker
Daniel Barden
Joaquin Oliver
Luke Hoyer
Jaime Guttenberg
Nevaeh Bravo
Makenna Elrod
Rachel Scott
Dylan Klebold
Eric Harris

I hope you all can forgive us
Maybe one day we will realize
That there is more to life than selfish needs
That life after the womb is just as precious
As a life within it

I hope you rest easy
The light is a little dimmer
without you in it