Pick a number, mine is 36
I have this dream that
When am 36
I will have everything I ever needed.
36, the number of times I broke down and cried my heart out without knowing why
The last time I cried was on my pillow
I woke up at 3 am in the morning and looked around the room as if searching for someone only to realise that I was alone
I was alone and I was scared
Here I was
A young black woman 25 years of age
Unemployed, depressed, lonely and terrified.
I had woken up from a dream
Where I was running from something
And the rain was pouring like a waterfall
And my tears flooded my blankets as
I remembered gorge flyod tears,
How he cried for his life under that knee
Gasping for air as if drowning in a river of injustice,
Begging for his life on this wretched earth
Wanting to still go another day to live
I cried for all the black lives that were ended in 36 seconds at that moment,
Who was fighting for them
Who was watching over them
'36', maybe he had 36 things to do that day before he went home to see his family
'36', how his cries went out to the Caucasian male man on his throat, who ignored him as if not hearing his voice.
What may or may not have gone through George's mind at that time is a mystery
All I can do is guess
"Oh Lord is this how I die
Is this how it all ends
What becomes of me after this
Why won't this man let me go
What have I done wrong
He Is going to kill me
I don't wanna die
My throat burns
I can't breath, I can't breath, I can't breath"
Now he is dead
You just killed a man
In broad day light and everyone saw it
No syllable or voice of his will ever be heard again in this world
His fingers coiled up in defeat to a tyran that held him down until he died
Yes I called you a tyrant
Because calling you a racist would be too little too small of a definition of what you really are
You thirst to cut us up and see red pouring out of our veins
But here we are
Singing the echoes of his cries to the top of our lungs and
Hitting the drums to his heartbeat in the heavens
A rhythm of life taken so lightly
A dance to culture of another black man killed on the streets
For no reason
We unite and call you out from your shadows
You thought you ended the life of one man
But what you did was awake the wrath of millions
It's time for justice
Black lives matter.
