if i die in a school shooting
BY LAUREN SHEPERD
if i die in a school shooting
i will become a statistic
my name will be forgotten
and i will live forever as a number alongside thousands of others
if i die in a school shooting
i will never run again
i will never see my family, my friends or my dog again
my life won’t be the only one shattered by the bullet that steals it
if i die in a school shooting
i will never graduate high school
i will never go to college or start my career
my future will become a what if
if i die in a school shooting
my funeral will be a gun control rally
my wake will be a protest
it will never be too soon to talk about how to prevent more pointless deaths
if i die in a school shooting
i will never see donald trump lose an election
i will never see gun control in this country
i will never see my generation fix our nation
if i die in a school shooting
i want to be remembered
but most importantly
i want to be the last
About the Author
Lauren Sheperd is about to be a sophomore this fall at Shaker Heights High School in Shaker Heights, Ohio. About this poem she said, “I’m scared, people near and far from me are scared, and I hope this poem makes someone important realize that.”
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