wildscape. literary journal

After the Tragedy
by Dexter V. Haunts

we piled stuffed animals and grocery store bouquets
in front of the Christmas tree in town. We repeated
“no comment” to the vultures with their cameras.

We cried when the President spoke to us
on TV and crammed in our tiny auditorium. 
We heard later that he sat with the families,
one by one; that he held the mothers’ hands.

Our stuffed animals became waterlogged with rain;
our flowers wilted. We tore down the school
and raised money to build it anew. This time, 
we hoped it’d be bulletproof.

Now, still, we proudly wear 
our green and white. Each year,
we repost their faces: Gone but not
forgotten. Never again.

Now, still, we watch other towns 
pile flowers for their children.
We hear that the new Presidents 
don’t hold the mothers’ hands;
that they don’t even visit.



Sandy Hook, Connecticut, 2025

(“After the tragedy” borrows its title from Christina Olson.)

about the author // Dexter V. Haunts