columbine ReapersBlade2001 Please give a moment of silence for those who died in the Columbine shooting on April 20, 1999. Once so low No where to go Pinned under the flame Burned in their shame They are victims They fight a war within Buried in their shame Their lives left in shame They try to get out But their is no way out They are trapped They are slapped Too close to ever see Too far to ever be Their freedom they'll never know Their happiness they'll never show They are depressed They are oppressed Their lives so hallow No one would want to follow They grow but don't live They grow to not forgive They are shame They are pain They are never free They will never be Life is forbidden They are never forgiven They are pushed too far They can't heal the scar Their anger becomes their crutch Their bodies unable to be touched Their fears build a wall Hiding from all They are never to be seen They are in quarantine They plan their revenge Bitter memories to avenge No more being in exile No more being treated vile They will fight They will right For months they planned Kill those for whom they are damned Justice they plan to seek No more shall they be weak They lived on the edge They are pushed to the edge They gather their power Their tools for their hour Their time for construction For other's destruction They are machines built to destroy They play with Satan's toys They bring their toys to school To create playtime under their rule Don't play by their rules, don't live Damn the ones who don't forgive They know no mercy They were never shown mercy Chaos breaks out Trapped no way out Locked with two who'll kill On the floor the blood spills Their expression coarse They show no remorse Too many perish The loved and cherished Shot with out warning Early Tuesday morning Their scar of hate Decided people's fate Bullets and shrapnel A classroom becomes Hell A school a war zone Casualties cut to the bone Order shatters for chaos Hate breeds loss Two men's hate Became a nation's pain Rage becomes disgrace People laid to waste Hate gone too far Grows into another scar Too many innocent die Too many tears they cry Because two couldn't stand tall Many had to fall Victims create victims Lost the war within The end had begun When they picked up the guns It was far too late To change their fate Satan's toys they use Dignity they lose They sought a second chance Ended up their final stand Isolated from everything but voices Bought the guns and made the choices They are no longer pure But still they think they're the cure 15 dead say the broadcast news Families helpless, nothing can they do When little kids play Violence is displayed In our homes the sounds echo The news interrupts our shows The insane killers lost their 'pride' The murders followed by suicide Lives ruined beyond repair For two didn't care When hate feeds hate Violent death is the fate Two things remain Questions and pain Sorrow fills the tears we cry Why should people die? Tragedy brings distress In this hate filled mess People walk in fear Is death far or near? No one wants to know We only want to grow We must learn to live To accept and to forgive In remembrance, of the tragedy. In memory, of victims killed. May all victims rest in peace. By: ReapersBlade E-mail me at: ReapersBlade2001@aol.com Visit hometown.aol.com/reapersblade2001/merh for mor like this. 010508 ... Dafremen A letter to Columbine, I have been troubled of late by the aftermath of Columbine, Pearl and Paduka. By troubled I mean torn to the point of torture. Not having lost a child in a senseless tragedy I cannot know your pain; only empathize and weep for your loss. What brings a child to the point of homicidal rampage? How did this come to be in our “civilized society”? There are those who with the best of intentions would act on the outrage which they feel over this senseless violence. There are those who, motivated by the fear of losing their own loved ones, would agree with almost ANY explanation that might set their hearts at ease. These nod their heads at regulations aimed at solving this problem, not once truly asking themselves, “Is this WHY it happened”. How can you look a grieving mother in the eye and tell her that a gun did not kill her child? How can you defend 2nd Amendment rights in her moment of anguish without seeming selfish and unconcerned by her pain? How can you argue against gun control; a conspirator in this gun culture that, in her mind, has ripped her life to shreds? How can you be anything in her eyes but a demon that threatens her remaining loved ones? You cannot. Emotion is blind and demands swift action. To say the problem is complex and will take time to identify and solve is not good enough. She wants security again; she wants her life back again and the breakdown of the nuclear family is too detached from the violence, which took her child, took her dreams. So we take the quick and easy route, the safe way, the politically correct path. We blame it on guns. We blame it on the ready availability of guns to children. We choose to ignore the fact that up into the early part of this century, most children had access to guns and did NOT go on violent rampages. We ignore the facts because we want the pain to go away. The pain will NOT go away Columbine. The guns did NOT kill your children, CHILDREN killed your children. Would that I could make it go away. I would round up all of the guns myself and melt them down if I thought that it would help. I know that it WON’T help. The absence of guns did not stop the young boy in Great Britain from smashing his playmate’s skull in with a brick as he pleaded beside the railroad tracks. Guns had nothing to do with the Tylenol poisonings that hurt and scared so many of us. Guns did not make Oklahoma City nor did they create the Unabomber; loneliness did. Loneliness, and disenchantment with one’s lot in life. These are the factors that led to the pain of Columbine, your pain, America. Too many lonely and disillusioned people, many without the guidance required to aid them in coping with the smallness that most of us feel at one time or another in our lives. The powerlessness which finds its twisted, homicidal release in senseless acts of violence against illusionary oppressors, or defenseless victims. Teach your children well, America. Love them with all of your heart. Protect them, not through legislation and regulation, but through experience, guidance and loving discipline. Don’t leave a child behind America, for it is the lonely, outcast child that comes up behind us and rips out our hearts. With no dreams of their own and no hope for the future, they turn on our dreams and snatch them away. My heart belongs to you Columbine, your grief has touched me deeply, but America and its future remain and always shall remain my one true love. With tenderest regards, R.Dafremen - - 010509 ... Butterfly Collector I will probably be totally ostracised from all society for saying this, but as I virtually am as it is, I dont mind. But my point is this: from what I've heard about it, I can understand why the perpatrators of the Columbine Tragedy did it. I can even empathise with it. Many of you will probably stop reading righthere, but I beg you not to. Forget all the Marilyn Manson crap the media trot out because it gives them something to be angry about in a way that makes them money. What I heard was this: that the perpatrators had been persistantly excluded by other members of the school over a long time period. Despite their making attempts to fit in, the others at the school would not accept them, because they were "different". Finally, they lost it, and everyone knows what happened then. Perhaps unpopularity may seem like a stupid reason to go to such extremes, but I think most people who have been through such a situation could understand this. It is hard for someone who hasn't to grasp the sheer and utter feeling of lonliness that can be caused. Yes, I am in fact going through a similar situation now, and I havent gone on a rampage. I can only assume that either they were less stable than I am, or what they faced was worse. Either one to me is a truly frightening idea. All this isn't to say I don't feel sorrow for the victims (and of course, their families), many of whom porbably had nothing to do with it. Don't think that for a minute I don't. It was, as is always pointed out, a tragedy. But it is, I think, just as much of a tragedy that they were allowed to get into such a state as they felt that what they did was the only way out. And now, they have been painted as inhuman monsters, without anyone thinking what ade them that way. 010820 ... Dafremen I've been there and though I agree with your analysis of their motives, I disagree with the attempt at rationalizing their behavior. They were not the only lonely kids in the world. Hell just look at the fact that they had each other and they each had one more friend than a lot of people I've met in my life. They acted on the feeling, they acted on it because they didn't fear the consequences. They didn't fear the consequences because for all intents and purposes they didn't know what consequences were. You analyzed their probable feelings on the subject well, however,there is no rationalization, excuse or anything to be agreed with in the blatant MISTAKE that these two young men made, nor is there any logic, reason or justice to be found in the consequences that they and their victims payed for THAT error and every error made along the way which contributed to that day in Columbine. 010820 ... dB I agree with Daffy totally (as usual). They were given the motive, but no motive justifies the taking of a life. I can identify with their situation as well, I've been there too. I had no guns, just my hands. I didn't kill anyone, but I hurt quite a few people, and my actions at the time I am ashamed of, and I can never apologise. I can understand their pain, and why they did it, but that does not excuse them. When we lose control of our emotions like they did, it is akin to letting go the very thing that makes us human, our ability to control our emotions. I'm not saying that those who died deserved it. I am glad that the universe is unfair, because if it was all the terrible things that happen are justifed and we deserve them. Columbine was a powder keg. Something had to happen eventually. when it did, I'd hoped that everyone would ask themselves how this could happen and look for rational answers. Instead I just saw a bunch of excuses in the papers and that was the end of it. It was a terrible tragedy, one that didn't need to happen. But, the most tragic thing was that nobody learned anything. If I was a betting man, I'd wager that this is not the last incident like this that we'll see. 010820 ... the spork presisely, if i hauled off and killed anyone who ever mistreated me in any way, my body count would potentially be in the thousands but obviously i was a little better socialized by my parents than some. i'm sorry, i come from a generation where our parents could still beat our asses when it was necessary (because sometimes it IS necessary) sometimes no other method quite gets the point across like a few good solid whacks with a good rubber-soled house slipper. that may not be politically correct to some, but have i ever been known to give a rat's ass? 010820 ... Dafremen In our house, for just about every decision there are consequences provided. I've engineered it to be that way. If you do the right thing, I'm watching, you will be rewarded in one way or another.(I don't tell them WHY though, or else they might just focus on doing that ONE thing right. Instead I say it's for "taking care of your business and doing the right thing.") If you're not doing the right thing, there are clearly stated consequences and YES there are consequences for things you HAVEN'T been told not to do as well(Mild if it's a small screw up, harsher for bigger screw ups), hey ignorance of the law is no excuse. Not out in the real world, so not in our house either. When they were too young to reason with, discipline by force was the tool, mostly quiet time and spanking. As they got older, they started to CHOOSE the non-corporal punishment options over the spanking. Then it's standing at the wall with your