Do not speak to me
About what the dead could have done
To not be dead
Do not speak of drugs
Quick feet
Fear and fleeing
Do not share
Suspensions and suspected
Toxicology
Do not call
Boy man
Man demon
Do not speak of
Superhuman strength
Black magic
Where guns magically manifest
Then disappear in body cams
Do not reference
Anything but the blood
That flows in all of our veins
Congealing on concrete
Do not tell me that badges
Are not the blame
That mistakes are not manslaughter
That a hit and run
And the pulled trigger of a gun
Aren't worthy of the same consequence
Do not tell me
That being an officer is hard
When you have not hugged the rigor mortis
On your husband
Do not tell me they were scared
When a child doesn't want to be tucked in
Because they saw
Their brother under a white sheet
Or when they miss their
Bullet ridden closed casket sister
Do not tell me what could've been
What should have been
When it's always been
Eff a Blue flag
Do not tell me about bad apples
When the tree was planted
To do exactly what it does
When the tree only grows
From my people's misery
And promotions come from arrest data
And not servitude
Would rather sign settlement checks
Than pink slips
Terminations
That could protect whoever
They would have targeted next
Do not speak to me about forgiveness
When your apology comes to me
Empty of justice
You do not get to say anything about
Healing
Unity
Hope
Thinking you can
Hashtag
Prayer hands
Sad emoji the racism away
Do not set your mouth to say that
You can't believe this is happening
When our society has always
Made lynching go by another name
Be silent if you cannot improve upon it
Bite your tongue
Till you taste
The copper in your mouth
Or the saline flowing to your lips
For I believe
There is a special place in hell
For those who
Are angered by our grief
And can't comprehend
Our rage