Yarmouth Stands With Parkland [ Extra ]

    

 On March 14th, 2018 Yarmouth High School students marched outside in the snow at 10:00 sharp with no time to waste and demonstrated how they feel about school shootings. Much of the student body bared the cold snowy weather that caused them to have a two-hour delay and joined together to make their voices heard. Students took time out their day on Monday to make posters and signs that they would later hold up high in the snow.  

Chants were lead by senior Eliza Brown and senior Anna Parker. The song Imagine by John Lennon was performed acoustically by senior Nick Prato. Concluding the demonstration before a moment of silence, senior Sage Watterson recited an original poem that left everyone speechless.  Media correspondents from WSCH6 news, WGME, Portland Press Herald covered the protest and covered the story. 

Never Again

September 25, 1789:

Congress sends the Bill of Rights 

to state legislatures for ratification.

I want to grab James Madison by the whig,

force him to look at the Second Amendment,

and demand he get rid of the comma 

between “militia” and “being.”

Tell him that to the 267 people killed

in schools since the year 2000,

that comma looks a lot like a trigger.

Do not use our forefathers’ words

to mop up the blood 

on library carpets

and cafeteria floors

or to fill the empty bedrooms

seemingly put on pause.

This is not politics.

This is life 

and the loss of it.

This is the indisputable fact 

that every student in America

goes to school with a bundle of fear

tucked into their backpack.

It is exhausting.

Our learning should not be interrupted

by skipping hearts at the sound of intercoms

or choked breaths

or the space between bullet and body.

We live in a type of terror

that never struck the politicians

hand-picked by the NRA.

They say we are too young

to make a change

but don’t realize that it only makes us 

stand straighter.

We will not let our children 

experience the same tragedy that we have.

The time for thoughts and prayers is over.

I am sick

of seeing my classmates’ eyes 

reflected in memorial photographs.

I am sick

of watching the names

of slaughtered children slip away.

Silence is no longer an option.

Walk out for those who never did.

Speak for those who will never get the chance.

Stand because they can no longer ignore us.

And know that our will for change

is stronger than their fear of it.

Sage Watterson