Digital publication | Page 104

Black Lives Matter

By Jerry W.

All they want to do is take the chains off

All they want to do is shed the pain

All they want to do is be free.

Can you tell me why?

Every time I step outside,

I see people who know their friends have died.

And fear for their own life

Knowing, he said he couldn’t breathe.

Breathe! They are all human too. Isn't that enough?

And to imagine that there are people who think they are worse than an animal locked up.

In a cage, that has

No purpose,

No voice,

No life,

No freedom.

If you could see the good in them, I wonder if you would wake up out of this state of hatred

If they chose words that that did not puncture your fragile, arrogant, and privileged soul, would you squash the life out of them?

I wonder if you saw love instead of hate, would you build them up rather than tear them down?

I'm just letting you know,

That there is no gun that can be manufactured that can kill a soul.

That has been hurt till it cannot be hurt anymore.

You can hurt someone physically, but they have already made up their minds.

To make a change to

Bring on the words of dead friends

Of a dead family

Trying to get to the world to make amends.

These words circle through history.

A lifetime full of misery.

For the little kids who don’t even know why their parents are being taken away.

For the black teenagers who should not be blamed for trouble that not their own doing.

For the black men who should not have to see a woman, clench her bag as he walks past her.

This world rife with agony and pain pinned on a single race.

Grown men calling Black children a disgrace.

They judge people by the color of their skin.

Something no one can change.

Ignore who they are within

Even if it is something we can't replace.

Everybody has a voice, so don't you dare stay silent

If you say nothing, you are an accessory to violence

Let these words dry the tears of people that are overcome with grief having lost a loved one..

People that are still dying and the injustice must stop!

We cannot revive the dead, but we can inspire hope.