I was there
for the night of September 21st.
The moment that fell
Between your last breath and the heartbeat
That couldn’t drum up against the
gang of poisons
sent to stop it.
I witnessed the way your pupils dilated
To withered sunflowers
That people would be scared to touch in fear that
You might crumble into little fragments and
be washed up with the wind.
And it would be their fault
That your lungs collapsed
From trying to find enough oxygen in life
To let you breathe
Unsuccessfully.
I saw the syringe
When it entered
I already knew that
It had no respect for life
It plunged into your arms
And your mother’s heart
Like a javelin thrown off course
But it felt the innocence in your blood
That drained out too soon.
The grim reaper stood there
Clad in State of Georgia executioner wear
He covered his head with the black hood
Not even he could stand to look you in the face
And watch you blink
There was something
In the way your eyes closed
That made his bones stiff
The way they would reopen again
Made him bone cold
The fluorescent light
Was heaven and hell in one body.
It lashed you with its rays
Didn’t warrant you a second’s peace
It was hot
And fried your skin singed to the touch
It was your refuge
Away from the darkness that encompassed 22 years
It was your refuge
Against the night the black gun shot tinted bullets
Into the body of a white skinned cop
You were blamed
They knew it wasn’t you
But a black man in Georgia
Isn’t safe at night
Even if you don’t kill
Anyone
The night brands you
Turns your skin marketable for murder
Says your blood was hallow enough.
I was the one who stole your last breath
That moment when you should’ve
Bid farewell to the
Protesters
And the McPhail mother
Who’s solace was corrupted
By yet another futile crime
The air stolen from your lungs
Is not going to bring her little boy back
As they say: an eye for an eye
A son for a son.
I said goodbye to your mother
For you
Tears fell off her face serpentine
It was a mountainous journey
From the tip of her eyelash
To the sodden Earth
Where they, she collapsed like mosaics
Without equivalent pieces.
I was the moment taken from you
When your soul left your body
When you went to live with the wind
And paint colors on mountain tops
I was the moment
When you were set free
from that night that never happened.