For the Three Children who were Killed in Murder Suicides on the Same Day March 6, 2007

(I don't normally wax political but these news stories affected me deeply)

What kind of monster
does it take
to pour gasoline
inside a car –
the kids are screaming
crying and begging out
and light a match?
What sort of demon
straps a little girl
into an airplane seat,
phones her mother
while she cries “come get me mommy”,
then crashes it
into his mother in law’s house?
I have seen anger
have felt hands around my throat
have been knocked against walls,
items have been thrown,
threats have been made.
I have seen a child beaten, ignored,
denied food, sleep, love.
I wonder
if they could make a test
to qualify someone as a parent,
would it make any difference?
What makes a person,
man or woman,
as angry or hurt as they might feel,
bring a child along
on a suicide run?

by Lori Desrosiers 3/7/07