I Didn’t Want to Read...
Suzanne Morris
June 26, 2022
the names of nineteen pupils
and two teachers
on that Sunday’s list of
Souls Departed in
Prayers of the People
fearing as I stood before
the congregation that
I might mispronounce
a single precious one.
Didn’t want to read how
policemen stood inert outside
while children inside
pleaded for help
in the little town near
Garner State Park where
my high school friends once
took family vacations
to swim in the Frio River and
sleep outdoors
under a blanket of
innocent stars.
Didn’t want to read about
the pediatrician who
couldn’t find the words
to describe
the effects of shots fired from
an assault weapon
upon the bodies of
third and fourth graders
or the husband who
died of cardiac arrest while
planning his teacher wife’s
funeral.
Didn’t want to read about
the child from the broken home
who was bullied so relentlessly
because he stuttered
that he grew into a monster.
I didn’t want to read that we
must not expect too much,
too soon, of those tasked with
passing modest gun laws
in hallowed halls
under iconic domes
where soaring flights of stairs
lead to massive doors
that shut out the public’s
anguished cries.
A novelist with eight published works spanning forty years, Suzanne Morris now focuses largely on writing poems. Her poetry is included in the anthology, No Season for Silence - Texas Poets and Pandemic (Kallisto GAIA Press, 2020). Examples have also appeared in The Texas Poetry Assignment and The New Verse News.
