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| The mother of a recent graduate told CBS Miami last week that her daughter, Sydney Aiello, had taken her own life. Aiello (pictured above), 19, was a senior at the school during the massacre. One of her friends, Meadow Pollack, was killed. In the year since the shooting, Aiello had struggled with survivor’s guilt and had recently been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, her mother said. During the weekend, word began to spread that another Parkland teenager had also died in what authorities called an “apparent suicide.” The student’s name and age were not released, and authorities said the death was under investigation. Broward Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie announced the student’s death Sunday on Twitter, saying that “a great young man” at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School had committed suicide.” The superintendent added late Sunday night: “In the wake of two suicides that shocked the community this past week, parents & representatives from organizations throughout Broward County came together today to discuss what we can do to help students at MSD and children throughout the county cope with trauma and depression.” —The Washington Post, March 22, 2019 |
Not all school shooting
victims are physically
wounded
Bear no visible scars
though everyone was
aware of what happened
That she had been there,
and, somehow,
she survived through no
fault of her own
Some watched as their
best friends died while they
were unscathed
All felt helpless and knew
they would never be
the same after-that day-
She fell into a deep depression
Felt despair
Not even daily Yoga helped
It is impossible to empty
your mind after something
like that
“No one knew how I felt.”
She said.
Her best friend’s father
insisted, “He did.”
Of course, he did
“Killing yourself is not the answer.”
All the parents understand
Her friends who survived knew
what she meant
But it wasn’t enough
Sydney Aiello was 19
when she died.
Alan Catlin has published dozens of chapbooks and full-length books, most recently the chapbook Three Farmers on the Way to a Dance (Presa Press), a series of ekphrastic poems responding to the work of German photographer August Sander who did portraits of Germans before, during, and after both World Wars.