My Dear Little Boy,

You have your mother’s anxious tender heart & couldn’t sleep 2 weeks past from hearing how a child felt as shots rang through the corridors of his school.
 
Now I, your mother, cannot rest
from learning how a child just 15 years of age
brought a stolen gun and ammo to his school,
a private show-and-tell.
We’ve walked past that school,
just around the corner and a block away
from where you sat today
(seemingly safe suburban classroom).
 
Tomorrow I will hug and wish good day to you,
my dear little boy,
watch you walk away
walk into your school
and I will pray to gods not there
that you come home to me, still safe,
sharing silly anecdotes of your day…
May you stay in sweet oblivion to the threats that weigh
so heavy on your mother’s anxious tender heart.