It’s time to stop

It’s time to stop and mourn the dead,
speak their names,
comfort their families and friends,
pray for peace.

Again.

It’s time to stop and consider how this happened,
how it could have been prevented,
how these people,
these daughters & sons,
these sisters & brothers,
these mothers & fathers,
these dear friends,
could have been spared.

Again.

It’s time to stop offering our children,
our siblings,
our parents,
our friends,
to the next bad guy with a gun
as a sacrifice
to appease the god of a fractured freedom.

Again.

It’s time to stop bickering with those who demand that
their rights
trump
our lives.

Again.

It’s time to stop letting the angry minority
$hout over the apathetic majority,
defending the interests of corporations,
lining their pockets
with the blood of the innocent,
with the fear of the complicit.

Again.

It’s time to stop letting
self-proclaimed “patriots”
intimidate us
with their power strapped to their backs,
with their dangerous fantasy
that they can protect us
when the shit hits the fan.

Again.

It’s time to stop reading
the abridged version
of the 2nd Amendment,
and remember that rights are not absolute
and must be tempered with wisdom.

Again.

It’s time to stop electing politicians
who fear the moneyed interests,
who conspire with them,
who make backroom deals,
trading our safety for cushy jobs,
leaving their integrity
in shreds
on the campaign trail.

Again.

It’s time to stop thinking
to stop praying,
to stop succumbing to inertia,
to stop forgetting that love is a verb.

Again.

It’s time to stop feeling powerless
as our people are taken by mad men.

Again.
And again.
And again.

It is time to wipe away our tears.
It is time to lift our heads
and help each other up.
It is time to find our courage
and our voices.
It is time to be angry.
It is time to join together
and speak out.
It is time to remind our leaders
and ourselves
where their power comes from.

It is time reclaim it.

It is time to stop this.