For Aaron Feis
written by: Dr Santosh Bakaya
(Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Parkland, Florida
February 14th, 2018)
Gunfire rang out on 14th of February
once again.
Once again, echoing the hate refrain.
‘O my God, o my God!’ Screams rent the air.
A petrified boy texted his dad, things were bad,
‘There is a shooter in the school’.
“Cover yourself with a book”, his dad, texted,
thunderstruck.
“Hide under the desk”, another parent replied,
horror-struck.
Desks and books are for reading purposes.
Why should they double as shields against gun assaults?
Aaron Feis, you were a friend and confidante to many
besides being a football coach and security guard.
Did you have any idea this madness was on the cards?
This brazen senselessness, this decimating of gentle innocence?
Blood? No, it was compassion that erupted from your heart,
as you lay injured, shielding innocence from a brutal assault.
Take a bow, Aaron Feis, you died a hero, may your tribe increase.
Your stocky figure hosted a benevolent heart; a soft touch.
You treated the kids as your own, loving them as much
as you loved your daughter, Arielle.
May the music of your love vibrate, drowning the crass cacophony.
Come, let us vow to shoot down hate,
kill that venom and malevolence decimate.
Feis, you were a metaphor for love; a colossal phenomenon.
Come, let us join hands and shun the gun!
Come, let us shun the gun!
Come!
- Then I Blinked - March 19, 2023
- The Soliloquy of an Octogenarian - June 2, 2022
- Fret Not - March 23, 2019
