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Just 14




Can someone tell me why my friend had to die?

Just 14 and I have to watch his mothers eyes run dry
My friend wanted to be the fastest track star
Only God knows how much more I miss him as each day goes by
When the sun goes down my heart beats faster
The fear in my eyes now permanent as the gunshots come closer as I walk by
Such beauty in my country but the ugliness is always near by

You tell me to sit still and make learning my priority 
The window shakes and our screams get louder and louder
Our books fall off our tables as our education is left behind just for a while
I'm just 14 but I've seen so many around me die 
Dead bodies have become the norm and it no longer makes me cry
This is the reality on my sweet little island

They tell me to make my future my priority 
But is there a promise of even a tomorrow?
The gunshots increase and I see my teacher calling out for us to leave
Four bodies on the ground, lifeless with no soul
Promises of bright futures now buried and I hear my teacher say gone too soon

Will a change ever come?
A day passes and we forget about it just a little bit
A next day comes and once again we hear about the guns
Plans are made in offices about what can be done
Yet I stand on the street corners and watch men run by with their guns
I'm just 14 but my aunt has already buried four sons
Each and everyone of them taken out by the gun
Police man, gunman they all show the power of the gun
Fear bubbles within me as I'm just a 14 year old young man
What could my friend have done?
To die innocently at the hands of the gun

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