Photo by Samuel Branch on Unsplash

EQUAL PEOPLE: THE POETRY EDITION

Freedom Rings

The phone has been glued to her ear this whole time

This poem is a part of “Equal People,” Our Human Family’s anthology of international poetry on equality and inclusivity.

Freedom rings
But someone snatches the phone
Before I can answer

“Freedom rings!”
MLK Jr.’s voice used to sing
He was wearing a suit
A nice one too
Preaching nonviolence
They shot him dead anyway

Bullets
Are magical
The way they rip through flesh
As if it were just tissue

Freedom rings
But Malcolm X said
Freedom has to be taken
So I’m taking
Back what’s mine
One word —
One stanza at a time

Rappers swear
The “choppa” sings
But I keep thinking of
Mike Brown
Eric Garner
Alton Sterling
Honestly — not enough paper in the world
Enough space in my heavy heart
Enough room in my troubled mind
To know every name…