I CAN’T BREATHE

Why do you hate me?
Is it because my skin is brown or black?
Carrying the weight of 400 years of psychological trauma like scars on my back.
Still trying to get over that.
But you keep bringing me back!
Why am I pleading for my life?
I CAN’T BREATHE!!!
PLEASE, PLEASE, HELP ME!!!
Gasping for air, bleeding from my nose.
Laying flat on my stomach.
The hard concrete doesn’t give.
PLEASE, PLEASE, I CAN’T BREATHE!!!
I’M NOT RESISTING!
My hands are cuffed behind my back.
LISTEN, PLEASE DON’T TAKE MY LIFE!!!
Two of you holding me down
while my throat is pressed against the ground.
One with his knee on the back of my neck,
and one looking on as I die.
WHY?
I’m loosing my mind because I CAN’T BREATHE, and I DON’T WANT TO DIE!!!
A tear drops as my eyes scream for mercy.
I wasn’t supposed to die today.
With disdain on your face,
and malice in your heart,
you applied pressure.
I stopped breathing.
Damn you murderers.
You never let up,
you kept applying pressure.
I felt like I was hanging from a tree.
Swinging, hands tied behind my back.
Rope tight around my neck unforgiving.
Eyes bulging,
tears flowing searching for mercy.
Choking to death,
until my lungs have no air left.
Lynching me on a public street.
Reminding me of how you used to do.
The way things used to be.
What did I ever do to you?
Tell me why you hate me.
I CAN’T BREATHE…

Michael Lovett 2020

#georgefloyd

#icantbreathe

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