For Alex Pretti
What Can I Even Say?
What do you want, what can I even say?
It's a struggle right now just to breathe
To remind myself they crave my hate
It's the spider's spell they try to weave
They want us to fight so they can win
If they do, we choose to stay and die or leave
It's a spell I knew that they were crafting
With every kidnapping or death to grieve
What can I even say to make you know
How much I am struggling just to breathe?
I grew up in a waking, endless nightmare
Trust me, I know how to cope with fear
How to listen to the smallest of sounds
To tones of voice that others never hear
I know also of how to fight oppressors
You may have noticed I am openly queer
You do not let oppressors defeat or quell you
Don't let them see you shake, don't shed a tear
Don't give them what they think is their rightful power
Right now we need to fight until their end is here
I wish to every god I was not right now so helpless
I wish I could heal enough to finally be okay
I wish the world was not so dark right now
I wish this could all just stop and go away
I have watched this building up for decades
Like the shard of a stabbing, Morgul blade
The time and ways to stop it have passed now
There is only what we're living with today
We must all choose to fight or we are lost
I wish it hadn't come to this too–but what can I even say?
Why Alex Pretti Had A Gun
They are already asking us why Alex Pretti even had a gun
Like he wasn't a good man, now a mourning mother's son
An ICU nurse for veterans of wars they waged, already done
His last words, “Are you okay?" before his murder had begun
Before his body had stopped bleeding, let alone begun to cool
They were planting, hiding things, lying, they think we are fools
Thank goodness for the cameras, now that's a very useful tool
Alex Pretti will not die in vain, we can take them back to school
All of this to tell you what you likely and should already know
When what we need do most is "stay” they tell us we should go
Never mind our midnight vigils, nor the grief that we still grow
They fear us together, what we'll build that they can't slow
Maybe we should show them! Ha, now wouldn't that be fun?
Without their iron grip of rule, to see what can freely done?
Every moment and tool has use for healing, harm, or for protection
It’s why Alex Pretti carried bandages... and also explains the gun
Hope Found From Alex Pretti
Right now the world is slowly shifting
It is becoming some other, different thing
Its course is steered by what things we do
What we say, the songs we all shout or sing
There are those who use only fear and anger
They would create a world of silent, compliant hate
Right now they kill us unchecked in the streets
It's the world they’d make, the America so “great"
So we must all become as kind as Alex Pretti
We must stop to ask a stranger "Are you okay?”
Yes, right now, that might mean our death
Don't let their fear get in your kindness’ way
Which world would you rather live in?
Their world of fear and hate and wanton greed?
Or a world where all reach for kindness first?
Where you don't fear the hurt or lost, in need?
I'm not saying you should pick a side here
I'm just asking you to do whatever you can
It's not always large deeds that win a war
It's the smaller actions of your fellow man
Smile at your neighbor when you see them
Kick the ball back to a kid out in the park
Comfort a stranger that you see grieving
A gentle hand shown is an amazing start
Right now the world is slowly shifting
It is becoming some other, different thing
Its course is steered by what things we do
What we say, the songs we all shout or sing
So here's some hope found from Alex Pretti
A good man murdered, but let it spark a flame
That man lived in care and kindness given
May we all become just a little bit the same
