From a parent's perspective

cut the edges off the sandwich and finished packing the lunch,

gave the kid hugs and as she walks out the door it felt like a punch,

the baby going off to school,

it felt like just yesterday the whole family was swimming during summer in a pool,

gotten a call,

knees start to buckle as I fall,

feels like a car crashing into a brick wall,

no longer care about plans of later going to the mall,

bullets had rung out and they bled to death,

what about her friends kate, susie, and Beth?

What about Carlos, Andrew, and Seth? 

how many survivors are left?

Hurrying there just to be told nobody can get through,

That much I already knew,

but the panic grew,

and at this point who honestly knows what to do

the girl who got dressed and raced off to catch the bus,

the girl whose lunch I packed,

the girl who was swimming in the pool during the summer,

that's my baby and where is she at?