The Day We Cried

It was such an ordinary day
like every other one
as I recall
no foreboding
and we each
went our separate ways
and thought of it
nothing more

I was in a store
when first reports were coming in
a madman shooting up a school
a maniac loose on the world
a mental patient with a gun
was shot but not soon enough

we don't know what was his cause
we don't know what set him off
we only know that there
were many killed
we only know who paid his cost

And we know this
as we add up the toll
we know from these precious
ones
that life has passed un lived
and we have not had time to realize
all that was lost

we are numb
and we are sad
and we don't know just what to do
one side says this
and one says that
there's no consensus
but we have lost

we have lost
and we are lost
we cannot cross the isle
to shake a hand
to compromise
to see the maniac
in us