Rage

I hear of him

Daunte

Black joy

Father

Son

Dreamer

Lover

Precious

Wonderful

Good

Good

Good

And I think of him

Jomo

Black joy

Father

Son

Dreamer

Lover

Precious

Wonderful

Good

Good

Good

And I see him lying there

The color drained from his lips

My first indication he was gone

And the rage cry comes

I am screaming

But no sound is coming out

I am shaking

But I cannot get loose

And they are, but only two

Cries for justice

And if you can hear these two,

Then you can hear the hundreds

And if you can hear the hundreds,

Then you can hear the thousands

And if you can hear the thousands

You can hear a sea roaring its truth

Because when we remain silent

The rocks will cry out

The trees will cry out

The butterfly wing will cry out

The cracks in the concrete will cry out

And our cells are ringing so loud

Because they cry out even when we refuse

To give voice

We know this is us

The news comes and we know

This

This

This

Comes from us

From a place so deep

In us

That none of us wanted

And that we have yet to face

Baldwin calls it monstrous

I do believe it is monstrous

My dear beloved

Sisters and brothers

I am filled

To overflowing with

Righteous anger

Not because I am righteous

But because justice is a

Holy, raging, cry

That will not let our stifled throats

Control the sound

And can we not see

Our humanity spilling out

Of our every hardened and cracked spot?

Where we said “let someone else do it”

Or “I don’t have the time”

Or ended relationships

By some misguided belief that we are better

We signed up to give $20 a month

And when the guilt passed, we cancelled

All the while we keep lining our pockets

With blood-soaked coin

Let me say it loudly

I am not better

I am living in the shadow

Of Black death

This is a place where no ray of sun can reach

It should feel cold but I am burning

I am angry

I am angry

I am angry

And I rarely tell you this

Because this rage is sacred

And honestly,

I have a lot of healing to do still

Because to pick up a bow

Pull back and aim it at you

Was never about you

Before it was about me

I harmed him

Without even knowing it

I harm so many

Without even knowing it

And I’m angry

I never wanted this

And what I know about righteous anger

Is that it wells up from

Unrelenting love

The fingerprint of the devine

That pursuits

Disarms

Heals

Even the deepest pain

So I must name what I have taken

Map it out

Collect the evidence

Bag it up and measure it

And scream with that voice

I’m still learning to recognize

She will tell of the agony

And lead me to the place

That hurts the most

So that I can change

And believe again that you can change

Because we cannot tolerate another day

Another life taken

By our hands