Now, We're Even (Poem)

Dereck Chauvin, a Minneapolis police officer,

was found guilty of the murder of George Floyd

on second and third degree murder,

as well as manslaughter.

Now, we're even.

No, were' not.

For every 10 black men killed,

one Dylan Roof walks away from a bloody church

with nine dreams sprayed across the pulpit.

I wonder if they were studying Exodus

when Pharaoh changed his mind,

chased the chosen people to be free to worship.

Now, we're even.

Not even close.

For every boy watching his dad or uncle

breathe in asphalt from a takedown,

five policemen walk away from conviction

due to "following procedure". 

I hope you tweet Jesus

while driving in the wrong lane of privilege,

I hope you text the Holy Spirit

to warm your demeanor

before you blame a kid riding his bike,

running in Brunswick,

and driving home

for "fitting the description". 

If their lives were framed

in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum,

would they be worth saving

after being stolen by fake cops--

called to practice valor and value human life

equal to all that is grand and holy?

You see one nation under God.

We see one strike, under arrest.

Now, we're even

with anger, a boiling disappointment

one degree from spilling over into the street,

marching towards a federal building,

seeking retribution. You want reparations?

For the land you raped, for the people you burned,

the necks you broke, the children you stole,

the mothers you pumped full of your anger and appetite,

the fathers you whipped into illiteracy,

sweating angst from your brow,

scared they'll learn greater is He that is in them

than He is in your threats and rationed abuse?

We are nowhere near.

We are far apart, lost in distance and disorder,

blurry, consumed by the chronic disbelief

you will ever see us

the way lies and law see you--

perfect.

-Calvin W. Pennywell Jr. (2021)

Sources:

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/04/20/us/derek-chauvin-verdict-george-floyd

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/12/15/505723552/jury-finds-dylann-roof-guilty-in-s-c-church-shooting