Kevin Shook

The journey of five and a half miles takes twenty-five minutes.  Traffic stops, crawls as does the conversation.  Music provides an escape from the staccato movement.  The door opens and closes; one away, one to go.  Momentarily the playlist is interrupted to hunt chickens and rabbits.  The door opens and closes; two down, mission complete.  The safety of the transport is shed and School Resource Officer becomes the shield.

This ritual is mundane.  This ritual is a comfort.  I am desperate for the mundane. 

There have been twenty-three school shootings that have resulted in deaths and injuries in 2018.

The sacrifice of the innocent is too great.  This country’s fixation on gun ownership and resistance to gun control legislation is a vector to the record growth in gun violence-related incidents.