Darkness on the Edge of Town

As most of us all know, one year ago today the inexplicable murders on the campus of Virginia Tech took place. The country mourned those that were lost and the news channels pulled their usual bullshit power play of pretending to care, when in reality most of them are just trying to push an agenda.

What the Virginia Tech murders-suicide represents is the failure of our society. Not only has our government continuously failed to protect us, but so has our media by not holding our politicians’ feet to the fire; while collectively we have failed one another. A flawed system allowed someone with past mental issues to be able to purchase firearms. We’ve seen this over and over again and we will see it again, no doubt.

I was recently listening to Bruce Springsteen’s album, Darkness on the Edge of Town, and many of the themes of that album are similar to what comes to mind when I think of events like what happened one year ago and how this world can seem so cruel and fruitless. Springsteen’s magically hand-crafted lyrics talk about betrayal, anger, sadness, putting effort into things that fail, and then when the record takes you to the abyss, we see someone reaching down to muster all of the intestinal fortitude they can to fight back. That person then stands up and says “Fuck you” I’m worth it. That’s the true power of someone weaving real life into art. Unfortunately, it is not always easy to get up off the mat one more time.

I feel for all of those people who mourn today, my heart weeps for this country and for the lost souls who have lost their way and have no hope. America is a nation filled with stories of great resolve, I hope that those hurting can find some small radiance of joy that will gently nudge them to pull themselves up and walk away from the darkness on the edge of town.