At a time when I should be celebrating my homies successes,
I’m looking at videos on my phone, speechless
Of a man being held down,Laying breathless.Somebody’s son
Somebody’s friend
Somebody’s something.
And I felt selfish
As I let out a sigh of desperation
My breath escaped me
And for a second I wished it had flown into George Floyd’s lungs
So we wouldn’t have to be outraged.
So he could’ve gotten up from the pavement and drove home.
Instead of being carried away
Just because another officer got carried away, I mean no, acted stupidly, wait I meant to say racistly killed someone
Again.Murder in the third degree.Under the sun
Somebody’s son.
In the middle of a deadly pandemic
God’s children are witnessing yet another epidemic
One no natural disaster could wash away even if Mother Nature tried.
Every time I look at the sun
I feel selfish
Knowing that George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbury and Breonna Taylor won’t get that chance again
Seeing how white supremacists showed up to buildings with guns and went home masked up, untouched.
For a second I bowed my head and closed my eyes,
Hoping I could show them what I see
Remembering that my roots grew from men and women who look just like them
All the world sees when they look at me is just another gringa
White washed by that man and his thugs who dique discovered the black man’s hands America
Stripped of their crowns
Robbed of their accomplishments.
America,
When will we open our eyes and face the music?
The music we dance to without worry
Not listening to the pain behind the story
Letting the lyrics leave us breathless
Wishing my lungs would fly into George Floyd like a butterfly and give him life again
I feel selfish when a picture takes my breath away
Knowing somebody could use one
Not letting it escape at the sight of a gun.
America….there’s a problem in your system
Who do we call on for help?
“I got the idea for this poem after watching everything happening in the world. I have so many friends this is directly affecting, and it just hurts to hear the desperation and anger in their voices. I wrote this to tell my POV of the injustices, as well as to document the pain I feel.”