05 July 2020

Beneath the Tide

There is blood on the street

Blood now smeared on jogging shoes
and a twenty-dollar bill

There is blood on the street

and it coats toy guns
and Walmart purchases
and legal gun permits

There is blood on the street

and it seeps over
all five flavors of Skittles

There is blood on the street 

where paid executioners,
awaiting the next neck,
sharpen the blades 
of their guillotine 

There is blood on the street 

and our tires continue 
their rotations as if it were 
but a minor inconvenience

There is blood on the street 

and it covers the tears, 
pleas, vomit, and finally silence 
of Elijah McClain’s 
open-face ski mask

There is blood on the street 

and it has left indelible stains
on grandma’s backyard

There is blood on the street 

collecting until it flows
like a river

A river so deep
that many are sucked
under its current,
gasping for a final breath

There is blood on the street 

The rapids crashing 
through windows and doors
of presumed safety

There is blood on the street 

that fails to signal
for a lane change
as it devastates
a Wendy’s parking lot

There is blood on the street 

A river of blood
beneath the valleys 
of indifference
and intimidation

There is blood on the street 

cutting a canyon 
of pain and suffering 
and lost childhood

There is blood on the street 

and it has sullied
our unwashed hands 

There is blood on the street

but even as the evidence
pools at our feet,
many continue to deny 
the existence of bloodstains

There is blood on the street 

but some cry how we need
to protect the asphalt

There is blood 
There is blood 
There is blood 

                                on the street 


1 Jul 2020

No comments:

Post a Comment