Fireworks

Once upon a time they were simply beautiful displays of light against a velvety night sky.

Loud noises that only punctuated the brilliance of bright colors.

Now the veil of ignorance--blissful naivete--has been scraped away, never to be perfectly replaced.

Those flashes of light, those bursts of sound, what they symbolize is far too close.
Bombs meant to kill.
Fire meant to destroy.
How many people hear that sound and feel nothing more than icy dread and fear?
How many people see that flash of light and are gone forever?

It is not a light show we should ooh and ahh.
It is not a sound we should applaud and call for more.

Don't they understand what that sound means????

Make it stop. Please.

Clark, I miss you.