Don't Shoot Me
Location
A lovely day,
Dull yet gay,
For a peace
Prevailed.
But all was gone
In the blink of an eye.
A thunder
Shook the world.
I looked through
The shaded window
Of a blue car
To the other side.
What I saw
I can never forget,
A wound so deep
Was never made.
Bang, bang, bang;
Bullets whizzed out
Numerous guns;
Bang, bang, bang.
Bullets pierced
His frail human vessel.
Blood gushed out
From the open wounds.
Not more than
A few groans
Did he give;
No life was left within.
I sat down
Too afraid to scream,
It was too much
For a little girl.
I wept
Without a sound,
As my heart
Shivered with the shots.
They wouldn’t stop
Even when he was dead,
Even when a pool
Of blood spread around.
I was frozen
With fear.
Blood collected
Under me.
I was sitting
In a pool
Of an innocent’s
Blood.
Now I’m afraid
To be white or black,
To have a
Caste, creed or color.
What wrong
Had he done?
To be born
A black?
Since when
Was man
Given the right
To judge?
His view can be blurred,
His judgment wrong,
His heart partial,
His mind obstinate.
Is this what
We teach our kids?
That colors
Rule our lives?
A black man
Stole because
He wanted
To steal.
A white man
Stole because
He had
No choice.
All black men
Are in gangs.
All white men
Are racists.
It’s like saying
(before you know),
That caterpillars
Can never fly.
No one can be sure
Of anything,
For change
Is always here.
So before you pull out
That gun without a thought-
I have my hands up,
Don’t shoot me…