Mothers and Bloodshed

Homeschooled
Kept home
Protected
But not from the guns

There were plenty enough of those at home.

Homeschooled
Kept away
Sheltered
But only from the drugs and the gays

There's another shooting today
And I ache
Because I know
Someday

Should he and I choose
To have one of you
Ourselves
We will not keep you home

As I was kept home
Alone

But is it worth the risk
Of someone whose heart is a brick
Someone so infected with bitterness
And malice

Coming to your classroom
With a gun
Just as black as the ones that used to lie
Restless on my father's nightstand

Is it worth the risk
Not of liberal brainwashing
But of yet more conservative bloodshed

To bear a child into this world
Only to see your blood across a desk

Because a man was told he deserved a woman
To serve him
And, like Eve, we said no

Is it worth the risk?
Only their mothers know