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Best Poems Written by Miranda Lattimore

Below are the all-time best Miranda Lattimore poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

Details | Miranda Lattimore Poem

Why Are You So Loud

there comes a time when
people you once respected
reveal
or you discover
the real
person behind the mask

face facts
people who never wanted you
to do better
than them
are now wishing
that you would 
shut your mouth
stop your tweeting
delete your facebook
get out of the streets
why are you 
so loud

like the screams of 
the black child
whose father is dead
whose mother is grieving
whose siblings are 
also fatherless

it’s like the system was built
to destroy us
which of my brothers were around
when the constitution	
was drafted
yet
we were drafted
to fight your wars
to fill your prisons
to be treated
like 3/5 of a man
because of our skin

now do you see? 
can you lift your blinders now?
can you stop thinking all lives matter
now?

b l a c k  l i v e s  m a t t e r
they mattered
when
white men kidnapped us
from the mother land
and when white men 
raped slaves who gave birth
to bastard babies
who grew to be house slaves
because their skin was lighter
but still 
they were slaves 
beaten, abused
ripped apart from
their families
undocumented
burials and sinking of
black bodies
in deep waters

now 
generations later
the mystery men
who were buried in mass graves
with no tombstone
have descendants who do not know
their great great great great great
grandfather was beaten 
and disposed of
like litter washing up 
on the shore
and here we are 
over four centuries later
the year was 1619
the year is 2020

black lives mattered
when jim crow
was written 
and Emmett Till 
was lynched by two white men
because a white woman
lied
testified under oath
and lied
so a black boy died
at 14 years old
and the world saw
his swollen 
mutilated body 
from the 
beating
torture
shooting
and disposal
of his black body
in a river
his unrecognizable face 
on covers of papers
and magazines 
everywhere
but the verdict was
not guilty
and here we are 
nearly seven decades later
the year was 1955
the year is 2020

black lives mattered
when Rodney King
was tasered and beaten
by five white officers
who did not know 
they were being recorded 
beat the man 
until he was black
and blue
they were acquitted
by the way

remember the LA riots?
when people took to the streets 
not because 
they were animals but
because they were tired
and the whole world 
could see why
on the news
in the media
in their neighborhoods
at their corner stores
at their shopping centers
on the streets
but here we are
nearly three decades later
the year was 1991
the year is 2020

and Black lives still matter

Details | Miranda Lattimore Poem

Brave

There was a time
When I never took a chance
And now
All I do 
Is take chances

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Made It Out

I'm tellin' you now, don't ask how–
but
I made it out, without a doubt
it was hard
I studied every night, until my grades were just right
but
even that college degree won't protect me
because
graduating cum laude won't save me
when
I'm laying face down on the ground
with
a knee on my neck and pressure on my chest
and..
my vision's blurry, it's hard to see
and..
and I can't..
I can't..
b r e a t h e

Details | Miranda Lattimore Poem

Kindness

Kindness
feels like
a genuine smile
it can make a difference
someone else needs it
pass it on when
you have it.
or fake it until
it feels real–
Kindness.