BY SHARON MARTIN

No one says, “How could this happen?”

anymore.

No one offers solutions,

just more thoughts and prayers.

Well, here are some thoughts for you!

How about universal healthcare

that includes mental health?

How about we de-stigmatize

mental health treatment,

and not just for soldiers,

but for all who serve?

Another Marine vet

commits suicide in a public way,

taking out with him as many as he can.

Closer to home, long-serving policemen

commit suicide, more privately.

Instead of seeking treatment

for depression and PTSD, treatment

that will land them a desk job,

or worse, end their careers,

they end them their way.

How about universal background checks?

No, it won’t keep guns

from the hands of every domestic abuser,

every stalker,

every hurting soldier

or public servant on the front lines,

but it might save some lives.

Isn’t some better than none?

Invoke the Second Amendment, if you must,

but while we’re protecting the Second Amendment,

can we please protect the First:

Freedom of the Press,

Freedom of Religion,

the Right to Assemble, to protest

when the Constitution is in peril?

Can we protect

the Third,

the Fourth,

the Fifth,

the Fourteenth, for goodness’ sake,

and all the others?

As we remember the end of World War I,

the War to End All Wars,

which didn’t,

even though 20 million died in the attempt,

can we look for solutions to sanctioned mass killings, too?

– Sharon Martin lives in Oilton, OK and is a regular contributor to The Oklahoma Observer. Her latest book, Not A Prodigal, is available through Barnes and Noble. Her recent children’s book, Froggy Bottom Blues, can be purchased in hardcover or paperback from Doodle and Peck Publishingand in paperback from Amazon.