Abducted
Enslaved
Raped
Lynched
Forgotten
Abandoned
How much more can we take?
Negotiation techniques fail,
promise arrive bitter and broken.
We will not be seduced by your shining talk of freedom
as you desire to imprison us in other ways.
We don't want TV shows pulled.
We don't want places renamed.
We don't want statues destroyed.
We don't want you insincere apologies saying you'll do better but you never do.
We want to live -
to be truly treated as equals and not as criminals
to be free
free to exist
free to move through the world without worry
free to not constantly be on guard
worried that each breath will be our last gasp.
Written 7.7.20
