scribbles on a tombstone

To the memory of George Floyd—strangled to death 2020 May 25
 
i
not long ago
i frolicked in this place
life’s ebb and flow
resplendent on my face
my giant hands
could nurse a butterfly
on lowly sands
i’ve often knelt to cry
my big, loud mouth
could sing a lullaby
songs of deep south
my painful alibi
my simple dreams
could dwarf the highest mount
then came my screams
(no black blood from my fount!)
 
ii
not long ago
a people of disgrace
with one death-blow
conscribed the human race
to paint a lie
about what shades of life
should occupy
the helm and whom the knife
should lynch like dogs
that hanker for their bones
neath catalogues
and chronicles of moans
four hundred years
of blunders and of crimes
with gross arrears
unpaid by vile regimes
 
iii
not long ago
i struggled down your street
remnant jim crow
emblazoned on the beat
nor could i breathe
beneath his evil prayer
a choking wreath
his knee my silent slayer
not long ago
my life was worth a penny
now i bestow
my ransom for the many
though i am gone
rise up and save our nation!
let my tombstone
bleed scribbles for salvation
 
© Copyright 2020 June 09
by Clyve A. Bowen♫