John-Ward Leighton

ASSASSINS

our home-grown assassins
who knows their motivation
they look remarkably well fed
and privileged

what would signal
their intentions
would it be something
they did or said
long before their victims
were dead

their single minded planning
firearms, explosive materials,
police uniforms,
ammunition,
haven’t previous atrocities
warned us of the pattern

when the ordinary citizen
notes these trends
and says nothing
only to come forward after the fact
and when authorities ignore the obvious
then truly silence is complicity

my heart goes our to all those in Norway
who have suffered
the never really healed scars of grief
and when they finally get past
their rage and sorrow
in some distant tomorrow
recognize that the best revenge
is
forgiveness