Colorado Crying

Colorado Crying

Who shall weep for you, oh Columbine?
Even the angels have tears in their eyes.
Like a bitter, sour brine, oh Columbine,
our prayers for thee are lifted to the skies.

Who can know the extent of thy pain, oh Columbine?
A sad remembrance forever casts
a shadow on our hearts for thee, oh Columbine.
Tragic sorrow that lasts and lasts.

Splasharama, Round 5
Prompt: write a poem about anything you have read in the article below or the feelings the excerpts evoked within you.

“New books probe truth about Columbine,” by Associated Press Writer M.L. Johnson.

At least three new books seeking to understand the Columbine shooting in Colorado are coming out in time for next month’s 10th anniversary.

Two are written by journalists who covered the rampage and then spent a decade looking into the killers’ backgrounds, the government investigation and survivors’ recovery…

Seniors Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 12 students and one teacher in less than 20 minutes on April 20, 1999…

Freelance writer Dave Cullen initially covered the attack for online magazine Salon. His book “Columbine” weaves three story lines reconstructing the attack…

Jeff Kass, a longtime reporter for the Rocky Mountain News, focuses primarily on the killers’ development and the battle to get government records related to the shooting released. The paperback “Columbine: A True Crime Story” contains excerpts from… Klebold’s college admission essays...

The boys did not target jocks or minorities. They aimed to kill as many people as possible. Some victims happened to be athletes and minorities.

Ultimately, both authors come to a conclusion about why the attack happened. But they differ on that too.

“I think Columbine and other school shootings are an outgrowth of the South and West of the United States, and suburbs and small towns,” Kass said. “In suburbs and small towns, if you’re an outcast in high school, you feel like a loser through-and-through because there are no alternative outlets to find your self-esteem… And in the South and the West, there is a mentality that if you feel your honor has been injured, you take it upon yourself to retaliate.”

“The reason Eric did it is because he was a sadistic psychopath with no conscience and not to stop him from hurting anyone,” Cullen said. “He did it for enjoyment and self-aggrandizement.”

Klebold, he said, was intent on suicide but might not have killed if he hadn’t befriended Harris.