So Many Being Taken So Soon

shot fired in darkness,
blood on street curb
flowing into gutter,
gunpowder-smoke
in the night air mixed
with the stench of death,
chalked outline of a dead body on concrete
marking the spot where the young man fell,
yet, bullets remain the constant
cause of lives lost across the land.
Until Jesus comes
we may never be able to curtail
the deaths,
Mothers will still be notified
that their child's life has been taken,
Fathers will question "Why?" with angry voices,
The police will leave to answer, yet, another call
somewhere down the road
far from justice -
where gunfire has taken the life of another innocent youth.