Sons
shot in the back
as they scrambled for safety,
running scared from madmen,
cowards in camouflage.

    Son, my son,
your screams echo in my dreams.

Daughters
under attack
in their school gymnasium
on the first day of school,
stripped of celebration.

    Daughter, my daughter,
your screams echo in my dreams.

Mothers
holding their breath, 
fingering list of the dead.
Inconsolable grief
only just beginning.

    Mother, my mother,
your screams echo in my dreams.

Fathers
spared terror, death,
sentenced to cruel remembrance,
thinking they should have been
there to shield and protect.

    Father, my father,
your screams echo in my dreams.