Mothers’ Howl — A Lament for Stolen Children

I’ve Been Thinking About Mothers

Lament, a nonnarrative poem expressing deep grief or sorrow over a personal loss. The form developed as part of the oral tradition along with heroic poetry and exists in most languages.

Definition of keen (Entry 2 of 3)
intransitive verb

1a: to make a loud and long cry of sorrow : to lament with a keen
b: to make a sound suggestive of a loud cry of sorrow
a keening siren
2: to lament, mourn, or complain loudly

To me, a poet, George Floyd’s last words looks like a poem. It is a poem of terror and I feel terrified reading it. Mr. Floyd’s last words do to me what only poetry can do. His words make me know something in my body, make me know it fast, and make me feel something beyond my immediate access to words.

Is it that Mr. Floyd was dying and called out for his Mama? As a home hospice social worker, I spent time with many dying people. Near the end of life, it is not uncommon for people across cultures to see or ask for their mother in their final days or hours or even minutes. This is not lost on me.

But it isn’t just that. It is that someone was hurting George Floyd, was killing him…