If I Get Shot at School

If I get shot at school,
don’t call the shooter evil,
don’t ask, “Why?”
don’t say it was a “senseless tragedy.”
If I get shot at school,
don’t ask “How could this happen?”
don’t say there was “no good reason.”
If I get shot at school,
don’t call me a hero.

If I get shot at school,
know that your thoughts are meaningless,
save your prayers for the rain,
say that the guns took my life.
If I get shot at school,
open the casket and post pictures of my mutilated body,
tell everyone that I knew this was going to happen.
If I get shot at school,
know that I was glad I did not have a gun.

If I get shot at school,
don’t search for a motive,
don’t ask if the door was locked,
don’t investigate the warning signs.
If I get shot at school,
don’t say we have a bullying problem,
don’t observe silence, even for a moment.
If I get shot at school,
don’t describe me as a martyr.

If I get shot at school,
cancel your NRA membership,
remove armed police from public schools,
dismantle the gun lobby.
If I get shot at school,
join the movement to limit gun access,
ban assault rifles nationwide.
If I get shot at school,
remember this poem.