Mark

have

our school
was on the news
for two weeks straight .
mark's face
was everywhere.
mark's dad
was arrested
for child neglect
even though
mark is seventeen.

jenny says
that those charges
are only a placeholder
until they find something
to put him in jail.

i wonder
why
mark
became
what he did.

i wonder
if
it was
mark's mom's
fault.

i wonder
how the families feel,
and why
mark's eyes
haunt my mind,
and why
he won't
just
die.
why won't he
just
tell us
why?

the families
need justice
but justice
will never come,
because
they say
guns protect us
because guns
kill people
like
mark.

they say
we need guns
because it is in
our constitution,
but you can
burn
paper.

i can't help but think
that mark
couldn't
be
helped.

i want to
hold
him
tight
and squeeze
all the evil
out of him.
but
if mark
came to me
and asked for a kiss,
i think
that his lips
would taste like
poison ivy
and i think
that if mark
cried
his tears would
be
like
acid.