POETRY | BLACK LIVES MATTER
Avenging His Father
He’s on the trail of a predator disease

at a parched water-hole beside a ragged thorn he stood and watched dry-eyed as his warrior-father fell
failed in his battle for life brittle-boned and lonely loser of love and family to a predator disease
he took his small inheritance his father’s staff and mantle he took a silent oath to hunt his kinfolk’s killer
sheltered by the mantle guided by the staff driven by the oath he’s ready to begin

Dale and I are trying to explore global issues and attitudes to race through the small stories of local people.
‘But let’s be different’, we said as we started our collaboration. ‘No politics, no drama, and no commentary.’
So I’m not going to comment. But you can.
If you love Dale’s portraits, you’ll find him at his website: https://dalewebster.carbonmade.comr
This is the second poem in our series. Here’s the first:
