We’ve all heard the announcement

“We are now on lockdown”

“We are now on lockdown”

Quietly you pull yourself out of the desk

Sit on the floor and wait.

Wait for the all clear,

“Lockdown has been lifted”

But...

 

What happens when the alarm isn’t fake?

When you’re sitting on the floor

because your classroom is guaranteed to be safe?

These four walls made of drywall

Will surely keep you safe

Because nothing can go through plaster.

Right?

 

Whispers fly through the room,

Bouncing off the walls

And each whisper lingers in your head.

“Why is a drill taking so long?”

“What if it’s not a drill?”

 

Silence falls over the room.

But this isn’t test silence,

It’s “I’m not sure if my life is in danger”

Silence.

It strings for miles long and high,

Wrapping you up and then suffocating you.

 

“Sit quietly they won’t know the room is full.”

Now I don’t know about you but,

On a school day I would assume each classroom is..

They say sitting on the ground is our best defense,

But all you’re thinking, hoping.

Is they don’t pick your room to enter,

To aim at.

 

Wishing you had stayed home today,

Because your safety is worth more than

Knowing who fought in the civil war.

Because arguing with your mom about

Who did spilled coffee on the floor,

Is better than not coming home today.

Not walking through the door.

 

You hear footsteps in the hallway

And with each one your heart beats faster.

Will I walk out of school today?

Or is my life just going to be thrown away.

 

The footsteps stop.

And a dark shadow is cast in front of the door now.

And the kids you couldn’t get to shut up five minutes ago

Are afraid to breathe.

And now the silence is breathing down your back

You are trapped.

Between four walls,

they were supposed to keep you safe.

 

And now as the door rattles,

Tears stream down your face.

Because this once safe place

Is now a prison,

Your in the middle of a battle

But you can’t fight back.