The black kid who rang the wrong doorbell
expecting his siblings is recovering at home.
The white teenage cheerleaders fled
after one climbed in a mistaken car.
One was treated at the scene,
another still in the hospital.
A man shot a six year old,
her parents, and a neighbor
after a basketball rolled into his yard.
Reading these, I stumble
across another name, Kaylin Gillis,
shot and killed up the wrong driveway.
I have made mistakes like these.
I resemble the shooters—
older men, mostly white.
About the Poem
These unjustified killings, triggered by accidents meeting hair-trigger tempers, have grabbed my heart.
About the Author
Jeffrey L. Taylor has stumbled into writing poetry after a 40-year career writing programs, documentation, and prosumer computer magazine articles.