there was an ice raid in the area

& it was the tensest last period class I've ever been in. Well, for me, at least,

and maybe only for me - when the announcement came on to secure

the school, no going outside, continue as normal,

the classroom erupted with noise, everyone joking

& faking scared like this wasn't the most awful moment of their life.

I sat there for another half hour, crossing my fingers

that we'd be able to go home on time. And there it was,

at dismissal the loudspeaker beeped and we were off

into the slow afternoon rain. At this point the rumors

were clustering around each other & nobody had really heard

the details anyways so everything was a jumble of confusion

as we scattered across the wet pavement to the buses;

I promised to text when I got home & waved goodbye to my friends.

The bus turned

the corner and I pressed my head to the window

coated with raindrops & washed in the blue light

of faraway sirens, and all the way home I prayed. I prayed for the safety

of my friends, of my family, of myself. I prayed the people involved

made it home alive. I prayed for the homeless man on the corner,

that he would go unnoticed by everyone wishing to harm.

I prayed for the children in detention centers, for their parents,

for the hopeful return of them to the world. I prayed

even for the soldiers in bulletproof vests,

holding guns,

so someday they could wipe the illusion from their eyes. I prayed

as I walked through the hastening drizzle. 

I prayed as I stepped through the door. I prayed

for the hope & the courage for a better world

because nobody should ever have to sit silently in a classroom

not knowing what's going to happen next. No child should ever have to walk

home in the rain praying for what was already promised.

No one should ever have to say out loud that nobody should live like this.