The Vanity of the Smug

You would not think a man would be shot

For a simple broken taillight.

You would not think a police officer would

shoot a man in the back in cold-blooded murder.

I did not know that broken taillights and running away in fear

were crimes punishable by death

and carried out by one man

as judge, jury and executioner, but

apparently in some parts of this country this is so,

especially if the officer is white

and the person who was murdered commits the crime

of being poor and black.

And the Smug Man Stands

over the dead man with his hands on his hips

and a shield on his breast,

and lies once again.

But this time,

This Time

His shield does not protect!

His shield does not keep him from the consequences of his lie,

because of an ordinary man

and his video camera

Which records the truth

and reveals the lie.

And a nation rises up and says, NO MORE!

And the people rise up and scream, NO MORE!

I do not want to see what I see.

I do not want to believe what I see.

I want to turn away.

I do not want to watch that man being gunned down.

I want to turn the channel and see something nice.

But therein lies the problem.

We need to LOOK!

WE need to see!

We need to see IT!

~Kathie Adams Brown (April 10, 2015)

NaPoWriMo 2015 / 30  Poems in 30 Days

With a Splash of Red Stayed my Fear Hiding

With a splash of red stayed my fear hiding

In a small black box

Before the dim dusk.

Four fat cats sat high and indifferent

And the cheerless self crawled behind.

Slower than the non-existent

The dawdling cruel thought

The gray common thought.

Still the self cowered at the black sky

While sweet harp music played behind.

Whisper through lips stayed my fear sliding

Sliding the spine up

Before the dim dusk.

Four fat cats sat high and indifferent

The towering trees cast shadows behind.

Thorny it’s not, like wide-eyed wakefulness

The fat ponderous thought

The slow sluggish thought.

There stood myself at a black mountain

The satisfied stone whispered again.

Rocks in heart stayed my fear hiding

The flat-lined heart kept me behind.

Brighter they’re not than comfortable life

The dull fat thoughts

The squat relaxed thoughts.

Still looming large over the red valley

The unfortunate self stifled again.

With a splash of red stayed my fear hiding

In a small black box

Before the dim dusk.

Four fat cats sat high and indifferent

Truth rose up and set me free!

~kathie adams brown (April 30, 2013)

NaPoWriMo 2013/30 Poems in 30 Days

Prompt 30:  Rewrite a poem using words that mean the opposite

This poem is my version of the opposite of All in Green Went my Love Riding by e.e. cummings.