They ripple across the plains of the world,
My cries as waves old as four centuries,
For I am held in a chokehold
As I watch my life slip away.
This is my story, my gory tale:
Ever since I can remember
Racism stalks the glance I take, monitors the steps I make,
Hunting me down like a hunter upon a game.
Decades ago, it was the same story for those before me,
Whose backs were lacerated by canines and whips,
Homes and Churches torched by fires of racism
Their blood like a river flew the streets of America.
They had no rest, not even one.
Racists mobs about the streets armed with cudgels and guns,
Searching for them to maim and kill: people of African descent,
Whose only infraction the skin they wore.
But not long ago, they said it was all over,
No more racism, no more hunting me, no more deaths.
Because it is the 21st century.
But it is a blatant irony, a yelping lie,
Seeing those in uniform and badges the same as the mobs
Now empowered to restrain and kill me.
But now, the world hears my cry:
I can't breathe,
Your knee is on my neck,
Don't shoot me, I'm an unarmed black man.
Justice I need, justice the world desires.
Comments
Hello chima, I've not read
Hello chima, I've not read your poems before, so welcome to the Neopoet group, if you're new. Your poetry is heartbreaking in its intensity. Almost like watching that gruesome video of the police kneeling on George's neck. So chilling, your poems shows horrific deeds.
I live in Argentina, here the indigenous people are still treated very badly in some provinces, especially the Wichi and Tobas in the northern provinces and the Mapuche in Argentine Patagonia, where I live. As my Dad sent me to a rural school 5kms from our farm, my friends were mostly mestizos or indigenous. Nowadays they are allowed to fly their own flag, learn their language in local schools and have a parlament of their own. A nation within the Nation.
But with C!9 they're almost in ghettos, it's shameful. Some private groups or churches help them a lot.
I'll return to read your poem again, as it merits several visits. Thanks for sharing and keep safe, Gracy.
Thanks
Gracy, I can't thank you enough for your inspiration and energy. Martin Luther king jr. once said injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere. And that's right, all humanity feels the pinch of injustice when any region is subjected to it. So together, we can rid the world of this scourge. Thanks.
Certainly...
the black man has borne the brunt of racism here in the States, but it is not dead by any means and racism knows no color barriers. It is to Man's detriment, that he cannot get over this hurdle. As a species, human-kind is bent on self-destruction, not only through our efforts to destroy our habitat, but each other. I attribute a quote to Ronald Reagan, but I may be wrong or inaccurate in it's exactitude, but it goes: "If aliens were to come here with conquest on their mind, we would all band together and be one." I say; let's live our lives as though "racism" is the alien enemy. Let us be one. Thank you for sharing your pleas.
~ Geezer.
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Thanks
Thanks, Geezer. You've got enriching words.
Hello, Chima.
Hello, Chima.
I've said it before, you're amongst the better of the poets on the "net."
but, brevity,,,,, brevity,,,,, brevity.
Obi.
Bollocks, just ignore the
Bollocks
Thanks
Thanks, Obi. You're an inspiration.
This is very well written.
The simple truth is that those words “I can’t breathe” hint at the destruction of human values. When George Floyd said he couldn't breathe and still the murderous police officer applied killing pressure to his windpipe, leading to his death, it was declared in those nine minutes that a black human life means nothing in the USA under Trump and his cronies. Those on the far right in US politics who try to deflect attention by making a big deal about fringe looting should be ashamed of themselves.
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Thanks Edna
Edna, I couldn't agree more with you. The far-right Trump cronies sitting in the Senate are the obstructionists to the nation's progress. But we must show them the way out come November. Thanks.