Guilty Until Proven Dead from Issue 96
After a line in Danez Smith’s
alternate names for black boys.
A black man was gunned down because he fled.
(The lone star sparkled red and blue today.)
His name was guilty until proven dead.
Inflections matter on Fox News. They spread
the checkered item but they angle gray:
“A black man was gunned down because he fled.”
A streak of white hair on the talking head
distracts me from his blather. Won’t he say
this man was guilty until proven dead?
The handcuffs came on promptly as he bled.
(The links and double locks are there to stay.)
A black man was gunned down because he fled
the cop who’d later find a way to shed
a taser near his body to convey
this man was guilty until proven dead.
As long as we keep feeding her the thread,
Blind Justice will continue to crochet.
A black man was gunned down because he fled.
His name was guilty until proven dead.