From in the crosshairs -- a sonnet

Another shooting in this ravaged land
Shakes me from my morning stupor like a ground-wave
Thundering under my feet where I stand
Disturbing my ancestors in their shallow grave.
Give me one good reason why I shouldn't scream
Like some wild thing that has lost its habitat
Or somebody waking in a cold sweat from a dream
Of which I remember nothing but that
There was a shadow loose on Turtle Island
A nameless fear that robs me of all hope,
And this will never be your land or my land
But all of us will be in the crosshairs of someone's scope
Until we name this shadow that is all-American
And dare each other, against the odds, to begin again.