[Newspoetry] Post-Columbine

[Wendy Edwards]

After the shootings came the predictable outrage
People had better morals in the good old days, they said.
Some even encouraged parents to use more physical punishment,
Conveniently ignoring the fact that more children 
Are killed by abuse than by school violence.
Still there was a longing for the values of the past.

Time magazine had a special article on lynching.
The photos showed a festive atmosphere.
White men, women, and children in the good old days.
Celebrating under dangling minorities 
Who had somehow offended the mob.
The body parts were sold as souvenirs.
The U.S. Postal Service had to ban postcards of lynchings
Since people were mailing them to friends.

Germany was a model of respect for authority.
Eichmann never considered disobeying adults as a child.
After the second World War nobody admitted knowing
What had been going on or where all the people had been sent.
The Catholic Church, a moral authority, found it advisable
Not to interfere with the mission of the Third Reich.
They finally apologized in the year 2000.

The school shootings continue 
People desire to return to an age with better values
It's unclear just when in our history that would be.