Protest!

A Poem for Our Time

Pulling down statues Rioting in the streets These are great issues Then come the tweets.

Bases renamed? Not on my watch POTUS has claimed, Such a dark blotch.

George Floyd’s dead Last week laid to rest Mother’s great dread It is all such a test.

Hope for a change Police defunded That is in range A hope well intended.

Can love replace hate In such dire times Or is it too late Too many crimes?

A time for cool heads Please listen and care We are not Reds But protest we dare.

It’s your move, you see Do you hear the wail? A mother’s cry Another dead, black male.

Why does it go on? Must we ask that again What can I do? It all seems so grim.

First teach the child Then hold your course Protest while riled Yell till you’re hoarse.

Then write the words That will excite And raise the standards With your good cite.

Now bow your head and kneel if you will Raise up your dread Write to the Hill.

What’s next you say? I need some relief And now you do pray Cause that’s your belief.

Help’s on the way. We know in our heart We’ll have our say We’ll do our part.

In these times, I can’t help but write in support of the protests going on across our great land. We all saw how George Floyd died. It was a totally unnecessary death. A poor black man whose name we would never have known has become the latest symbol of racism and police brutality, not just here in the USA but around the world.

I’m a writer. I sit here and spill words onto the screen and try to make some sense of it all. I wrote two other pieces on this topic. I hope you’ll take a look at them, too. My goal is to spawn thinking and that the thinking will spawn action and the action will spawn deep, lasting change, and that somehow racism in our social psyche will be diminished. I know it will never be totally eliminated.

A first step will be driving it out of police forces. A second will be driving it out of the White House in November.

We all have racial bias. Even black people do, but like lust, we must work to keep it in check and not let it influence our thoughts and actions.

I would challenge you to join me in speaking out against racism. Working together, we can bring about change and make the world a better place for everyone regardless or race or ethnicity. Why not write something today?

#ICan’tBreathe #BlackLivesMatter #GeorgeFloyd