Beaten Down
Beaten down for centuries
Splattered in newsprint for all to see
It has been that way ever since
they came from Africa on hollowed ships
Enslaved, raped, hanged, broken
Traded for sins unspoken
Successful towns burned to the ground
Wiped from the maps never to be found
Protestors marched as sons and daughters were shot
Police bullets took lives without a mere thought
The unarmed men and women trying to survive
in a country who ruled they had no right to life
Battered and beaten, black lives shattered
Skin color, if Black leads to lives in tatter
Equal Pay? Equal rights? Do Black lives really matter?
Republicans gerrymandering to silence their rights
Statesmen cloaked scheming through dark days and nights
The front of their neck rests the white man’s knee
trying to gasp out the words “save democracy”
Ignoring their foes
they showed up in droves
Standing in line
No concept of time
Wind howls, rain pour
the right to vote has never been yours
Copyright © Jennifer Geer | Year Posted 2021
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