The school shooting in Tennessee this week was the 130th mass shooting in the US in 2023. March 30th is the 89th day of 2023.
Clint Smith’s poem “The Gun” was published this week in the Atlantic.
A Washington Post article detailed the damage an AR-15 does to a human body.
In an interview for NPR, a veterinarian discusses how pets have a lot to teach us about love and grief. On helping animals grieve, she says: “…try to go somewhere where they can see another dog so that they can kind of keep doing a little bit of what they're doing and just allowing them that time and space to grieve, because it is a normal process.” This advice probably also applies for people. (Related: RIP Marty)
In better numbers: A microbial ecologist plotted the date that cherry blossoms bloom in Japan, with 1200 years of data.
Also: A hobbyist solved an open problem in the mathematics of tiling involving an aperiodic monotile called “the hat.”
Signing off with a poem from Claire Wahmanholm. (On twitter, Wahmanholm commented that she can no longer remember which school shooting inspired the poem.) If you want to tell your representatives your thoughts about gun violence, 5 Calls and Celeste Pewter have information to help you get started.
Kate
Both of those poems are so painfully poignant. "The Gun" in particular struck me hard. No one should have to live through that sort of experience, let alone children in an environment that should be safe. I am surprised how many students can still live a happy childhood with that threat hanging over their heads like a damn Sword of Damocles.