When shooting has become a synonym for today

And fear a synonym for tomorrow

Last week, month, year, years

These are no longer words, but justifications

Next week isn’t even a part of our vocabulary

Because we don’t even know if there will be one

When shooting has become a synonym for today

And hashtags the coping method

One hashtag becomes more and more and more

Trending for a bit, then fading into nonexistence

Because as the hashtag disappears, so does the issue, right?

More and more hashtags appear

As we have more and more to cope with today

So, what does doing nothing do?

Well, you better prepare those hashtags

You’ll need plenty of them

Rather than join a trend, make it trending

Why fear the monster under the bed when you can just turn on the light?

But the light can’t only be kept on until you fall asleep

You must always keep the lights on

Yes, even when it seems safe

Yes, even when you think monsters have become extinct

Because once you turn the lights off, they will come back

Don’t have just one tiny nightlight

Add one, two, three

Even sleep with the overhead lights on

Because monsters become more and more powerful overtime

You need all the lights you can get

When a child tells you they had a nightmare

You tell them “it was just a dream”

So why are we treating this situation like it’s a child?

We have become a child needing protection

But this isn’t child’s play

Will they come back?

No.

Will the issues come back?

Yes.

We can mourn all we want,

But unless we do something…their death is in vain

Someone’s life isn’t a hashtag

They shouldn’t only be known for the gruesome way they died

Yet more and more people are becoming known as a hashtag.

You can’t turn someone’s entire life into a hashtag

And neither can you an issue

“I can’t figure out why this keeps on happening”

You say as you scream into a wall

“I want something to be done”

You say as you lock yourself in a room

“I don’t feel safe”

You say as you hold the weapon

Your voice, which you let disappear into silence

When shooting has become a synonym for today

We have the power to change the synonym for tomorrow

When peace has become a synonym for tomorrow

Progress has become the synonym for today

With its definition being speaking, speaking out, doing something, anything