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(June 2022)

The locked door broken open

A knife in the bathroom

Blood on bedsheets and towels

When police find me dead

they will not see any of this

A video of a man

in a car, walking, stalking

carrying a weapon

in his hand

When police find me dead

they will not watch the video

Thousands of women

dead everyday

from the violence of men

familiar and strange

When police find me dead

they will not know any of this

The emails I sent

to police and officials

about the crimes

that are ongoing still

When police find me dead

they will not read any of this

When I screamed in rage and terror

with no neighbor as witness

as my life was taken from me

When police find me dead

they will not hear any of this

My life will be forgotten

because I faced this danger

alone and unprivileged

When police find me dead

they will not care

* * *

Emerald A. Behrens reports about social issues, corruption and crime for local radio stations and publications. This is her/their first poem published for Power Poetry.