If I Am Angry About The Knee Strangulation Of George Floyd? Poem by Hebert Logerie

About the public execution of Brother George Floyd, I am very, very angry
About the daylight strangulation of Brother George Floyd, I'm very unhappy
About the deadly lynching of the jogger, Ahmaud Arbery, I'm absolutely mad
Arbery was young. He could have been my son's friend, my nephew's friend
My son, my nephew, my neighbor or my neighbor's friend. America is our land
America is our flocking land too. We work and we pay taxes too. It is too bad
If you're uncomfortable or uneasy that we are here in America. Our damn blood
Is in the economy of this land. In slavery, our ancestors worked and built for free
This country, the United States of America. Our ancestors fought for this country
For America to be free. Don't say that we don't belong here before I break the iPod
Before all hell breaks loose, we die and you die too. The system sucked us for centuries
For a long time. We can't breathe the free air. We can't even breathe the breeze
Of this beautiful spring. We are not violent; however, we must take care of business
If all of us are willing to die now, you are in trouble because you will surely die too
You have been strangling and killing many of us for years, including my friend's niece
Now, you are asking me if I am angry, I am goddamn angry like hell, like the brothers
That you have killed senselessly? I am not happy because the force is full of murderers
The police force is full of assassins, gangsters, killers, liars, thieves and corrupt officials
My family and I are angry and we want to fight back with everything, with all the tools
That we can find to stop, stop the violence against our people, our friends, our brothers
Our sisters and parents. We are angry enough to retaliate against the vile perpetrators
We're angry. We're mad. We're protesting until we find the Lady of Fairness and Justice
Until we stop the degradation, the humiliation and the brutalities, then we'll be at peace.

Copyright © May 2020, Hébert Logerie, all rights reserved.
Hébert Logerie is the author of several collections of poems.