The Revolution is Here
“And what is it America has failed to hear?”— Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Did you see Jesus walking down the street crucified again?
Breaking the cycle requires courage anew.
I carried a sign for peace in 1969.
Injustice begetting violence is déjà vu.
End police violence, we won’t be silenced.
While we can still breathe, never stop saying their names.
Listen to their voices and their unspoken voices.
We will teach our children to teach their children.
See the difference between protester and agitator voices.
End the brutality and mass incarceration in our nation.
Kitchen tables splintered by traffic stops.
No matter what, the next day, women with brooms, sweeping away.
Infected at the time of our founding. The cure is love.
Looting is anger, spewing from OPPRESSION.
End police violence, we won’t be silenced.
Souls and minds, open up your eyes to the visible!
May we regain peace in our nation.
Seasons cycle: hummingbirds flit, sun shines, unjust cities burn.
United we protest: no justice, no peace. Ya basta!
End the brutality and mass incarceration in our nation.
So take a knee, for one who can no longer.
I won’t stop taking a knee for justice.
Take a knee for justice, not hatred.
We are not dumb.
End police violence, we won’t be silenced.
What is there unsaid?
What remains undone?
What is left besides a revolution?
We’re already halfway there.
Original prompt: Write a poem of protest.
May 31, 2020
For George Floyd
Barbara Berg, Frances J. Vasquez, Kris Lovekin, Cindi Neisinger, Rose Y. Monge, Jeff Rogers, Natalie Champion, Burcu Misirli Chatham, Juanita E. Mantz Pelaez, Lisa Alvarez, Nan Friedley
Ruth Bavetta, Joseph Milazzo, Tameeca Griffin, Liz Gonzalez, Gudelia Vaden, Alexandra Kuhlmann, Rick Champion, Magdalena Nunez, Christine Perkins, Larry Burns, Kamelyta Noor
Inlandia: A Literary Journey 