“Visceral”

The visceral vibrations of a verdict

A verdict I should not have to applaud

Yet there is the continued breaking of my spine by a Country that revises itself as inclusive, even as I stand on the bones and blood of an unacknowledged past

A past Littered with strange fruit, the juice still staining the trees

But I still cheer a verdict that finally affirms my human worth

Too long treated like the chattel my ancestors were shipped over as in the courts of law

That verdict is visceral, because it has been an avalanche of viral videos and injustices

Since the last time our deaths were allowed to matter in the courts

Since the last time our lives outweighed a badge

That verdict is visceral, because I finally get to see an imperfect Black life matter outside of our social media created communities

I finally feel like we matter