Dear God America!

How many more times shall black bodies be laid out side by side?

Like human cargo on incoming ships?

How many more coloured tears shall fall

To baptize the pain of fallen men?

Do you want lifeless bodies filling the earth for future flowers to pick?

Death reserved for a few in a society when all should be equal

Ships carrying black bodies

Whips cracking aching to caress glistening skin

Trees rooted bear strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees

Guns target practice for men unarmed.

Dear God America!

How many times shall a little black girl cry?

Weeping for the death of her father

Angry for the death of her brother

Worried that she too will cry for her unborn child

Steeped in pain and grief of skin that will never change.

How many cigarettes is worth a black life?

1? 2? 5? Or even 10?

How many cd's is worth a bullet to the head?

Shall I raise hands in defense when I know I will be dead?

Dear God America!

Equal rights for all in your constitution

Men have the right to bear arms

But slaves still picked in cotton fields when the ink dried

And only privileged whites can carry concealed to protect.

Dear God America!

When will this end?

I would able to send my son down the street for skittles with his hoodie on?

Will he come back into the safety of my arms?

Will I able to hold the hands with my white brothers and sisters?

Break meal together

Pray together

Live, laugh and love

To sing joyously in the sun as I dance to the freedom which I have been given?

Maybe it won't happen in my lifetime or years to come

Maybe many will have to die for freedom to pass

But as I sit here and look through my window

Two children play on blood pavements

One white and one black

Laugh joyously for hope tomorrow.

* It took a long time for me to decide to post this poem. In the end after a battle with myself I decide to post it because I realise that I shouldn't silence myself to make others feel comfortable. I am not American but I do attend college there and I have considered it a second home. I have family and close friends there and everyday I worry and fear for their lives. I hope this poem speaks for itself, as I am angry and distraught at what America is going through, and I hope this madness and violence will end soon. I hope your family and friends are safe and that you don't take for granted the privilege you have, however small it is, because there are people out there that are being killed for the colour of their skin and for the badge they wear.

* If you plan on commenting, please think before you type. Words said cannot be undone.