77 Minutes
By IS
For 77 min they waited to go inside
For 77 mins they waited to save their lives
Why?
Were their lives not that important?
Or was it just another tragedy and misfortune
‘Cause of the mishaps of police
Another 1000 years of mourning
‘Cause peace makers aint keep the peace
Why?
‘Cause it wasn’t your lives that was in danger?
The unarmed is killed in seconds
Active shooter killed hours later?
No hatred towards the police
Just hatred towards their decisions
A principal may have survived
But our principles are no longer living
I’m livid!
Thought Dear America grabbed your attention
Too many voices stating opinions
Nobody to sit and listen
Are we finished?
I’m talking about humanity as a race
For 77 minutes our heroes just stood in place?
No way!
And left children to a darkened fate
And left parents hearts filled with hate
Those are feelings they can’t escape
Mistake?
How many more do we have to make?
How many souls get snatched away
Before making America great…again?
Or was it ever?
Or was it all just an endeavour
To bring this country together?
And make falsehood look like the truth
‘Cause the truth, is January 6th was the biggest stage
For the revealing of the face
Of a country that’s set ablaze
Amazed that they couldn’t stop it
And for 77 minutes they sat and practically watched it
Ukraine is the trending topic while we are waging wars with ourselves
Throwing bodies inside a cell and strip millions of mental health
Then call it rehabilitation
Denial towards the facts that should prove we are mental patients
And patience is getting thin
‘Cause nobody ever listens to the mentals that needed saving
if you save a man’s mental
You probably can save a nation
Shave a couple minutes those children probably make it
77 minutes?
What’s the reason that kept you waiting?
Note: “Dear America” is a poem by IS that is featured in the Free Minds anthology When You Hear Me (You Hear Us).
18 Comments
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This was an especially moving poem in light of recent events. It perfectly encapsulates all of my frustration with what happened and how I think it was so poorly handled. I have yet to find a reason that is actually believable for why action wasn’t taken much sooner. 77 minutes is not just some negligible period of time where things can happen instantly, it is a significant amount of time where many lives were lost when it could have been prevented, and I am glad this poem highlights that.
“Were
their
lives
not
that
important?”
the line “’cause it wasn’t your lives that were in danger?” really sticks with me. it wasn’t their lives that were in danger & they were there to help anyways!! cops really just dont care if it’s not about them :/
Your poem is extremely powerful and raw, it asks questions and brings up points that need to be brought up, especially during these times. The line that especially stuck with me is “The unarmed is killed in seconds, Active shooter killed hours later?” because there’s no justification for waiting. Like you said, “Shave a couple minutes those children probably make it”. I admire how you questioned the police force’s heroism.
This poem is very touching and important. Parents are now teaching their children how to defend themselves and what and what not to do during a school shooting. Its just expected to happen also known as a norm. I can feel the emotion in this poem, the pain and grief many American families feel. Its important to understand that January 6th did happen and this was just the beginning of all the outrageous events that would follow. Its a tragic and terrifying place for children to be. I like many of the lines in this poem; they are all very touching and have lots of emotion. To make America great again as you say, we need to be able to understand the past so that the future can be brighter and not have reoccurring events. You got this and remember the best is yet to come!
Wow.. this brought me to tears on how powerful this is. In the beginning when you said “ The unarmed us killed in seconds , active shooter killed hours later” makes such an amazing point. Why are all these innocent babies being killed left and right while the actual threat is being left to do as he pleases. When you were talking about the police and saying you don’t hate them you just hated their decisions that made connected me because I think police should be more prepared for these situations and more ready for this too happen, I’m sure they didn’t want these babies to die, but they were the reason why they did I mean 77 minutes is too much time and the amount of lives lost and we’ll never get them back. I lovedddd the line where you said “ A principal may have survived but our principles are no longer living” this really shows the deep whole americas in and how we can’t find our way out of it. I feel like right now everyone speaks their mind, but never listens to anyone else’s views, which if we did would make change and that’s why I connected with your line “ too many voices stating opinions, nobody to sit and listen.” Everyone thinks they’re in the right with their opinions, but if we all listen to each other we could actually come to a real solution. a really powerful line was “And for 77 minutes they sat and practically watched” like wow just thinking the fact that these people just sat and watched kids getting killed is a horrific view. Overall, think you are an immaculate writer, this makes people think of different sides and brings justice for the poor babies who didn’t get to go home that day. You are making a difference, please keep writing.
Holy wow! You just laid words on the table and let it flow. You can feel the emotion through the screen. It shows the passion for this topic. Amazing and keep on writing.
You’re right, there’s no excuse for the continuous gun violence not only in our schools but everywhere across our country. Our country is very “profit over people” and we face the monstrosities of our nations decisions daily. Violence is so common we’ve become desensitized to it. Our incarceration system is backwards as well, like you said just throwing bodies in a cell with no regard for the mental health or rehabilitation of the inmates. Modern day slavery with a different label and then we ask why there are so many repeat offenders. So much violence on our streets when we don’t offer easy or affordable access to what we need to not only survive but thrive.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, I’m sending good wishes your way. Keep your head up, I know these are heavy topics you’re thinking on but there’s many beautiful things in the world too. Keep your light.
S
Hi IS,
This poem is insanely powerful and just conveys so much raw emotion. Especially in today’s world with the amount of gun violence and children lives lost in school shootings, this topic is so important to talk about. Every point you bring up, like the shooter being killed hours after the shooting began is very powerful to your message. The way you say 77 minutes repeatedly drives the point home that this is horrible and inexcusable, and forces the reader to question just like you are, why exactly did it take them SO long to go inside and save the kids? “A principal may have survived / but our principles are no longer living” was an outstanding line. It is so creative and represents the state of our country so well. The topic of this poem itself is very intense, and your use of language & the way the poem flows adds to this effect. This is a difficult topic but something that urgently needs to be talked about until we see changes made in this country, and I am truly amazed at how you were able to capture this. Thank you so much for sharing!
Ainsley
This poem describes such a powerful emotion of loss and hate. The sentence “No hatred towards the police. Just hatred towards their decisions.” resonates with my feelings towards the police officers and what you call our peacekeepers. Not all cops are bad, but those that make such terrible decisions. Gun violence needs to end; the rates in America are too high. This shouldn’t be the case, but it is; this is our reality.
Gun violence is a really big issue that I think people are talking about more. January 6th was a big wake up call for what terrible things people with guns can do. Now there are people who should have guns, but if you wait that long before attempting to go after the suspect that makes you just as worse. I understand keeping kids safe for waiting a couple of minutes but not for that long. You speak the truth about how far knowledge and mental health will get us in the world
Your poem really summed up society as a whole nowadays in America. It doesn’t matter what it is, but when something wrong happens, why do we/they take so long to take action? Every minute counts. I really enjoyed reading your poem, keep it up!
This is incredibly poignant and powerful and is very much needed considering the state of the world recently. I can absolutely feel your rightful passion and anger. The lines “A principal may have survived/ But our principles are no longer living/ I’m livid!” were especially powerful. It really captures the tragedy and senselessness of the situation. The technical aspects–playing with the idea of a “principal” and “principles”, and “living” and “livid”–are also extremely well done and make this poem even more amazing. Thanks for sharing!
I love how into detail you got with this and how you expressed your emotions throughout, I like how it seems you didn’t stop writing at anytime and the words just kept flowing out, Nowadays there is So much violence on our streets when we don’t offer easy or affordable access to what we need to not only survive but be able to live a sustainable life. I hope all is well with you and I hope you are on a good track with life.
To IS- This poem is very relevant to recent times, which is always important to talk about. I like how you added “Were their lives not that important? Or was it just another tragedy and misfortune,” I feel as though people in those positions get numb to the tragedies that occur which is not a good thing for anyone. However, there are some officers that have never gone through those tragedies and they might crack under pressure. There are so many reasons as to why certain things like this happen, either they didn’t care, they didn’t know what to do, or they were scared to get involved even though they should have. They are supposed to be our “heroes” and the people that protect us but the more we see it seems like they would rather not fill that job. Our country has never all agreed about something even when it’s surprising that people could think any differently about innocent lives being lost. Even if they’re not lost physically, they could be mentally and people still don’t always care. Thank you for sharing your great poem!
This poem is very powerful. I enjoy how you repeat using 77 minutes because it focuses on how absurdly short the timeframe for so much to go wrong in America. The line “No hatred towards the police /
Just hatred towards their decisions” really emphasizes how the police don’t focus on what they are suppose to. They lost the trust of the people. I hope that this poem is able to change more perspectives.
Very thought provoking poem with a call for change and action in today’s society. I like how you use the phrase “77-minutes” to emphasize the wait and inaction of those in power whenever there is an emergency.
I’ve heard countless stories about people in danger calling authorities for help, only to find out that by the time law enforcement, such as the police, arrives, it’s too late. However, I have seen instances where people in positions of authority receive assistance faster than members of the community. Specifically in rural and black communities.
When you say, “Left parents hearts filled with hate,” you paint a vivid picture of how many people feel neglected by the system that we are supposed to trust to be there for us in times of need.
WOW… this poem is powerful, beautiful, real, and angering. I absolutely love this. How you put the time the police spent outside waiting while people’s babies were shot down just makes it even more enraging. How many children do we need to lose until the police begin to move faster? If any of their children were in the school they wouldn’t wait. Treat others children like your own in these situations. But how dare we as a society normalize school shootings of the most innocent people on this earth? We are losing our children to gun violence. When is enough for our government? How many have to die before we take a stand against this violence?