Bus door opens wide,
Masked men steal summer's sunlight,
Children choke with fear.
Buried deep below,
Darkness whispers, dirt surrounds,
Hope a fragile seed.
Jennifer's young mind,
Plans escape, a digging hand,
Freedom's promise gleams.
Rising through the earth,
Sunlight kisses tear-stained face,
World explodes with joy.
Though the children live,
Shadows linger, fear takes hold,
Innocence is lost.
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Author:
Matthew R. Callies (
Online) - Published: November 11th, 2026 01:02
- Comment from author about the poem: On July 15, 1976, in Chowchilla, California, three armed men hijacked a school bus. They abducted the driver and 26 children, ages 5 to 14, and imprisoned them in a truck trailer buried in a quarry in Livermore, California. The bus driver and children managed to escape before the kidnappers could issue their ransom demands. For mor information, visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_Chowchilla_kidnapping
- Category: Unclassified
- Views: 2
- In collections: Bloodletters and Badmen.
Online)
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