Murder in Suburbia

A weekly appointment at the local salon
hair touched up and nails done

who is that man on TV, did they say
he is carrying a gun?

Boom, boom, boom, boom
he shoots one round then five more

six people down, two on the floor
what is the neighborhood coming to?

Years of quiet disrupted in one afternoon
it could have been me on the TV.

The cities are abuzz throughout the county

so many were at their local beauty shops
it could have been anyone.

I expect to be safe in suburbia

my manicured lawns and school P.T.A. can't protect me.

He was not a terrorist with a mid-eastern name
or a gangster in a random drive by.

How can I defend my family when a suburban
neighborhood becomes like a war zone?

If my home town is no longer safe where can I go,
how can I thrive?

The news reporter said two more have died.
Families and friends gather outside to comfort each other.

People who don’t get along have to figure out
how to negotiate without killing

and I've got to figure out how to protect
myself and those I care about when they can't.

Prayers to family of friends of all who
lost their lives in the Seal Beach Massacre.