Journals, poetry scream of violence, despair
October 15, 2000 The voices of the school shooters have seldom been heard, before or after their crimes. Here are excerpts from poems written before the shootings by shooters and comments by a shooter in a Secret Service interview. Suicide or homicide A second poem: He loses his lust for life An interview with Luke Woodham, who killed his mother and two students in Pearl, Miss: Q. Did any grown-up know how much hate you had in you? A. No. Q. What would it have taken for a grown-up to know? A. Pay attention. Just sit down and talk with me. Q. What advice do you have for adults? A. I think they should try to bond more with their students. . . . Talk to them. . . . It doesn't have to be about anything. Just have some kind of relationship with them. Q. And how would you have responded? A. Well, it would have took some time before I'd opened up. If we kept talking . . . I would have . . . said everything that was going on. Copyright 2000 Chicago Sun-Times |