Out of Breath

I’m tired 
of your “I feel inconvenienced”
emergency phone calls
filled with feigned hysterics,
putting people’s lives on the line
to protect your frail mask 
of entitlement

I’m tired 
of the police showing up
and adding another name
to their discarded pile of lives;
another Eric Garner,
another Sandra Bland

I’m tired 
of the beatings and bullets
that brought an end to George Floyd,
Freddie Gray, Breonna Taylor, 
Philando Castile, John Crawford,
Stephon Clark, Terence Crutcher,
Amadou Diallo, Walter Scott, Jordan Edwards
Michael Brown, Laquan McDonald, 
Atatiana Jefferson, Jonathan Ferrell,
Oscar Grant, Botham Jean,
twelve-year-old Tamir Rice,
seven-year-old Aiyana Jones

I’m tired
of how long and still 
incredibly incomplete that list is

I’m tired 
of your tiresome 
excuses of justification 

I’m tired
of white vigilantes
foaming at the mouth
to add more names to the list:
Ahmaud Artery,
Jordan Davis,Trayvon Martin

I’m tired 
of videos that break my heart
but somehow don’t convince a jury 

I’m tired
of guessing how many 
suffer the same fate, 
unwatched, unknown,
without a video,
without a name
ever passing by our ears 

And I’m so fucking tired
of your closed eyes 
and your white denial 
that there is even 
a problem to be fixed

26 May 2020