“Who was justice for the poor, who was rage against the night?” *

Over 100,000 dead

The naysayers scoffed

That will never happen

Lifetimes edited into brief litanies

Veterans, coaches,

         nurses, children,

princes and paupers

the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker.

Over 100,00 dead

Those that ran toward danger and into the arms of death

A 100 year-old man whose brother died in the last Pandemic

You know, the one we should have learned from

Instead Spanish flu and Corona virus

       orchestrate a family reunion

But this damn virus killing us off isn’t enough

We have to kill each other?

We kneel on George’s neck

We proclaim ourselves judge and jury

We shoot Ahmaud

We are silent, we are complicit

We know the poor and persons of color are dying more

We are silent, we are complicit.

Nice people don’t go there.  Don’t talk about that.

I don’t want to be nice anymore.

I want to hold George’s sister

And Ahmaud’s mother

And tell them I’m sorry.

I’m so, so very sorry.

‘I want to be justice for the poor,

I want to be rage against the night.

I want to be hope for peaceful people

I want to be light.’ *

*Anthem” by Tom Conry adapted