Century 16 Multiplex in Aurora, Colorado,
July 20th an evening with friends, family and bravado.
Batman, The Darkman Rises premiers at midnight,
A madman in the dark without light.

The emergency exit door is where he re-enters,
Dressed in black he would become the center.
The gunman throws a canister into the crowd,
Smoke begins to fill the air like a storm cloud.

Gunfire begins to erupt,
It all seems so abrupt.
The innocent crowd in theatre 9 is caught,
When it ends 70 are shot.

Twelve lost their lives,
Others were fortunate to survive.
Columbine comes back into our mind,
Another act of senseless violence is caused by mankind.

Gun control debates rage on,
Faces in the crowd now gone.
One of the victims, a beautiful child of six, was lost.
America we must “STOP THE VIOLENCE” at all cost!

Poem and artwork by Robert Maestas