As an aunt, I’ll tell you how I feel;
I feel rage, I feel impotency,
I feel it’s time adults ceased their follies
and faced up to their parental responsibilities.
I feel that my niece at 19 months old
embodies; vitality, vivacity and a precocity
she’s inherited courtesy of her genes
I feel that her ‘right to grow up’ is not negotiable.
No more cold, dead, little hands
heartbroken parents won’t be able to prise open
a child’s ‘right to not be shot’
should be a given and not have to be spoken.
I’ve tried to articulate how I feel
and if I'm lacking in coherency
it’s down to the incomprehensibility
of a senseless tragedy.
As an aunt, I’ve told you how I feel
so as a parent, tell me how you feel.
