The Mind of a Black Girl

innocent

with blood around him like a cape
he felt himself slipping away
his heartbeat slowing
and his vision beginning to sway
the skittles fell from his hand,
and his hoodie fell from his head
his arms, legs, and chest pierced
with lead
blood oozing like the rivers
of his mom's tears, drowned by
the sirens and carried away by the flashing lights.
shouts rip through the air
like the bullets that flew moments ago,
but not loud enough to block out
the blaring of the cop's panicked yells.
he felt his fingers loosen around
the grip of the life he thought
he could control, the one that was his
but the innocence that seeped into the dirty
pavement proved him wrong.
shot down with his hands up
killed while surrendering,
there he laid, another
stain on the cop's glinting boots
and shiny badge.
another smudge on the ground that
the reporters will roll right over.
and his soul floats high
another ribbon in the sky
another black boy dies
but he flies.
the whites of his eyes
reflected the moonlight his blood
glittered in,
the red and blue lights
mixing into a dark purple that matched
the deep sadness that carried in
the thick night.
another boy gone.
another life cut short
by those with a baton on their hip
a gun with too many clips
a badge that shines too bright
boots that crush the fight
left in our broken bodies.
he became imprinted on the pavement
a dirty handprint on a clean white house
another boy gone
because of the innocence he held in his hand
like the skittles that rattled,
the hoodie his head
the way he blended too well with the night.
another boy gone
because black lives are the
loose seam in the flag that isn't
stitched in.
another boy gone because
he was black and innocent
and unarmed.
but his soul dances
like his ribbon in the sky,
and we will carry the torch
they thought they could
shoot down.

- #JusticeforBothamJean #JusticeforJoshuaBrown