I grieve for George Floyd I grieve with George's mama I grieve for Breonna Taylor I grieve with Breonna's momma I am a mama and I grieve for America I grieve for the dream of America withering on the vine, for the promise of America dying on the ground I am a momma and there has got to be justice I grieve and it is raw—wet—furious I grieve and it is steely-eyed, resolute: that we will stop the murders we will have justice we will restore the hope of the American dream — a life of liberty and the pursuit of happiness— by imagining a fresh world, a world that is lit, a world that knows peace, a world that dances together instead of fighting each other I grieve because I know, as a mama, while we shall endure— we need to thrive
Author’s Note: This poem was written on June 9, 2020. On June 2nd, I was one of the thousands of people marching in protest through Portland, Oregon. When we lay down on the Burnside Bridge, face down on the concrete for the 9 full minutes of time that it took the police officer to choke the life from George Floyd, there was no containing our grief. And we aren’t through yet…America isn’t through it, yet.