Login
|
Join PoetrySoup
Home
Submit Poems
Login
Sign Up
Member Home
My Poems
My Quotes
My Profile & Settings
My Inboxes
My Outboxes
Soup Mail
Contest Results/Status
Contests
Poems
Poets
Famous Poems
Famous Poets
Dictionary
Types of Poems
Quotes
Short Stories
Articles
Forum
Blogs
Poem of the Day
New Poems
Resources
Syllable Counter
Anthology
Grammar Check
Greeting Card Maker
Classifieds
Member Area
Member Home
My Profile and Settings
My Poems
My Quotes
My Short Stories
My Articles
My Comments Inboxes
My Comments Outboxes
Soup Mail
Poetry Contests
Contest Results/Status
Followers
Poems of Poets I Follow
Friend Builder
Soup Social
Poetry Forum
New/Upcoming Features
The Wall
Soup Facebook Page
Who is Online
Link to Us
Member Poems
Poems - Top 100 New
Poems - Top 100 All-Time
Poems - Best
Poems - by Topic
Poems - New (All)
Poems - New (PM)
Poems - New by Poet
Poems - Random
Poems - Read
Poems - Unread
Member Poets
Poets - Best New
Poets - New
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems Recent
Poets - Top 100 Community
Poets - Top 100 Contest
Famous Poems
Famous Poems - African American
Famous Poems - Best
Famous Poems - Classical
Famous Poems - English
Famous Poems - Haiku
Famous Poems - Love
Famous Poems - Short
Famous Poems - Top 100
Famous Poets
Famous Poets - Living
Famous Poets - Most Popular
Famous Poets - Top 100
Famous Poets - Best
Famous Poets - Women
Famous Poets - African American
Famous Poets - Beat
Famous Poets - Cinquain
Famous Poets - Classical
Famous Poets - English
Famous Poets - Haiku
Famous Poets - Hindi
Famous Poets - Jewish
Famous Poets - Love
Famous Poets - Metaphysical
Famous Poets - Modern
Famous Poets - Punjabi
Famous Poets - Romantic
Famous Poets - Spanish
Famous Poets - Suicidal
Famous Poets - Urdu
Famous Poets - War
Poetry Resources
Anagrams
Bible
Book Store
Character Counter
Cliché Finder
Poetry Clichés
Common Words
Copyright Information
Grammar
Grammar Checker
Homonym
Homophones
How to Write a Poem
Lyrics
Love Poem Generator
New Poetic Forms
Plagiarism Checker
Poetics
Poetry Art
Publishing
Random Word Generator
Spell Checker
Store
What is Good Poetry?
Word Counter
Email Poem
Your IP Address: 18.218.184.214
Your Email Address:
Required
Email Address Not Valid.
To Email Address:
Email Address Not Valid.
Required
Subject
Required
Personal Note:
Poem Title:
Poem
BLACK LIVES i My friend bridles. Huh! All lives matter. Is she is being deliberately obtuse? Should I add ‘’too’’ or ‘’do?’’ She adds, I’ve blacks in my family. We had indigenous girls in nursing school. Never treated them any differently. U.S. blacks are lucky not to be back in Africa. I feign agreement. How right you are. African Americans must be grateful, living in that land of the free. I’m sure George Floyd felt overjoyed to have such good fortune. A cop’s knee on his carotid. Hands in pockets. The killer whistling, while his victim choked to death… ii Whites rarely experience racial slurs. Get shot in the back. Suffer unlawful arrest. People of colour endure such abuses every day. US parents drill kids, on strategies to survive. Be invisible. Don’t answer back, even if the cop is wrong. Never argue with a white. Keep car radio down. Blacks are stopped for loud music. Or shot reaching for their license. ‘’Illegal’’ U.S. kids, from babies to teens, are locked in cages. So much for a country founded on immigration. iii Colonial settlers in both countries stole indigenous land. Gifted themselves black house slaves. Cattle-yard slaves. Money never seen. And what sort of men shot innocent blacks after church? Set fire to their circular homes. Poisoned wells. Rigid in the belief of white superiority, they denied tribal links to country. Ignored their knowledge of survival. But sorry began our crucial journey of healing . iiii Don’t close your eyes to acts of violence. Hundreds of Australians and Americans have died in police custody. And - oh yes - they were black. Let’s step forward in unison, kin under the skin. Protect police whistle blowers. Hear them speak the truth. Get rid of crooked cops. Educate and create an honorable force. And, yes: Black lives do matter. Decima Wraxall
CAPTCHA Preview
Type the characters you see in the picture
Required