To the God on Earth: Black Lives Matter
I sit down to write
a lament for the dead
I never knew
I cannot recall
all their names
The young man
with the broken neck
or spinal cord
and the “rough ride”
through Maryland
despite his cries
“I hurt.”
“I am in pain.”
“I am human.”
I am angry
angry at myself —
what was his name?
Angry at the news —
why has he disappeared
from headlines?
Angry at our common,
off-kilter
humanity
I google
“Maryland black man killed”
Freddie Gray
appears, his name, his face
his spinal cord eighty percent severed
his hands and feet, shackled
his inability to brace himself
against metal van walls
like a high-dive head first
into pavement
Piece it together, his spine,
his story, someone,
make it make
sense
Black lives matter
God in heaven
lift the earth up
by its ragged edges
give it a good shake
Sandra Bland
she protested, too
her voice
unheard
unheeded
“I am human”
“I’ve done nothing wrong”
“I changed lanes
so you could pass me by
not pin me down”
not pin me down
to the ground
to the ground
May the God on earth
hear our cries
May the God on earth
forgive
our acts of omission
the right, the just
we fail to do
As we lay down our lives
for the dead
that they’ve not died in vain
that they’ve not died in vain
Visual Artist: Timothy Beltran del Rio