As a teenager during Viet Nam,
The news every night was grim,
Listening to the death count,
To the loss of life and limb.

Thirty years later, I listen,
Most nights it's still the same,
But now it's not because of war,
Just people with guns to blame.

People from every walk of life,
Mothers, Fathers, Daughters and Sons,
Families destroyed in an instant,
Because of someone with a gun.

An intruder walks the school hallways,
As we separate Church and State,
But the kid's still pray together,
As a gunman decides their fate.

Children's laughter is silenced,
By gunshots ringing out,
Peace has been shattered by bullets,
Their innocence clouded by doubt.

A couple is walking hand in hand,
Down a quiet, shaded lane,
Shots from out of nowhere,
They're gone---more families in pain.

Someone decides they need money,
And goes into a fast-food place,
Shoots the teenage employees,
Without ever seeing one face.

What has happened to our conscience,
Society will never survive,
If we neglect our responsibility,
To help keep each other alive.

God is silently weeping,
As another life goes still,
This wasn't what He intended,
When He gave us each free will.

Children killing children,
Babies shooting their friends,
Life as it was meant to be,
Gone----'til this madness ends.