"This is the Way We Mourn"

This is the Way We Mourn

with lit candles,
a flood of words,
diatribes,
debate; point
counterpoint, spokesmen
and policy.
Blame.
Beneath the big top
glare of kleig lights,
news trucks satellite
hook-ups
generator back-up.

This is the way we mourn:
strangers in town wearing black
ribbons,
sympathetic faces, sorrow
not feigned,
contained
at polite distance,
separated
by the constant prattle;
background noise
that drowns out
an inconvenient
weeping.

I have been deeply disturbed and saddened by the deaths in W Va this week. But I am also disturbed by the press coverage of this tragedy, most especially the public display of the shooter's video.