lawd
we march

lawd
we chant

lawd
we pray

lawd
i sing the body to a hemorrhage

i sing
“the fires are not my doing
neither is the fear
nor the brown skin

i put my weapons into the ground
i sign my resignation in the dirt”

lawd
it’s broken
all still broken
the house windows
the store shelves
the po-po cars
the stale white words from particle board podiums
and the black lives
and the “us” loves
“us”

every dream is sharded
every hand is cut

lawd
i sing
“we need cha now”

i sing my body to a hemorrhage