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Friday, May 08, 2015

DRIVE-BYS AND OTHER DARK TRAGEDIES

by Sister Lou Ella Hickman


Back in 2008, NPR reported about a 10-year-old fireball pitcher from Connecticut named Jericho Scott. His 40 mile an hour pitches were so good that one youth league decided he shouldn't be allowed to pitch. The story went flying around the Internet faster than Jericho's fastball. Last month, the 16-year old was killed in a drive-by shooting in New Haven. —NPR, May 6, 2015


1 injured in Greenfield (CA) drive-by shooting. 
KSBW, May 6, 2015

Man wounded in North Oakland drive-by shooting. 
—Contra Costa Times, May 6, 2015

A man is recovering after he was shot in the leg during a drive-by shooting Tuesday in Jacksonville. 
—The Florida Times-Union, May 6, 2015

Two Men Arrested In Suspected Drive-By Shooting. 
CBS7 (West Texas), May 6, 2015

Police arrested a man Tuesday night suspected of a drive-by shooting last week in Tacoma.  
News Tribune, May 5, 2015

The father of a toddler who was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting in Kent says he’s not a gang member, despite the contention of police that the shooting was related to a feud between gangs. 
—The Seattle Times, May 4, 2015 

Two men were wounded in a drive-by shooting in North Hollywood Saturday night, police said. 
ABC7 (Los Angeles), May 3, 2015


what words of tenderness
for the young mother who heard the window shatter
and the bullet stain her five year old daughter’s black skin
what words of solace
for the grandmother who still mourns a teenager
pimped till she died
what will we say to the single mom family on welfare
who watches and watches story after story on tv
river after river called rage and riot
theirs, too, is the massive ache for justice
and it trickles down dark faces
for their child, their children
for every child
because the ghosts of all children
walk among the flames of another city of rage
                             
                             
Sister Lou Ella Hickman is a member of the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament. She has been a teacher on all levels and she has worked in two libraries.  Presently she is a freelance writer as well as a spiritual director. Her poems and articles have been published in numerous magazines as well as a poem in After Shocks: Poetry of Recovery for Life-Shattering Events edited by Tom Lombardo and a poem to be published in Down the Dark River edited by Philp Kolin.  Her first book of poetry, she: robed and wordless, published by Press 53, will be released in the fall.