Days pass and days end
Glancing at the sun
His beam, his hand of help
Lighting our path for the day ahead

Mornings pass and mornings end
The sun, slanted in the sky
Rubbing eyes of sleepy children
Awaking, asking “Why?”

“Why won’t I see Sally?”
Asks a girl, four feet tall
“I don’t know,” replies her Mother
She truthfully replies
Though that is the worst can she can give
She is just relieved the scary man let her daughter live

Twenty desks are empty today
No more afternoons pass and end
They hold hands with the sun
And the Man who tortured them

Their prayer a quiet psalm
For their Mommies, Daddies, Sisters, and Brothers
They forgive the bullet in their heart
As evening sets in

A candle is in the dark
For when the sun’s hands leave
It is for the purity of today
A symbol of compassionate grief
The wick is silent
But the day is seen
A piece of today’s sun
In our heart
And for the twenty who no longer bleed