Monday, May 20, 2013

A poem a day for 2013 - day 140 - For Marissa Alexander 3



"We who believe in justice will not rest until it's done"
Were the words they sang when the judge handed 
The sentence of twenty years
To Marissa Alexander
For firing a warning shot
In the air 
As message to her abusive husband
Who would have strangled her

"We who believe in justice will not rest until it's done"
They were escorted out
Because what place does justice have
In a courtroom
When the prosecuting attorney is the same man 
As in the Trayvon Martin case

What song about justice can be heard
In a courtroom where a jury took twelve minutes
To return and call her guilty 
Of unequivocally stating to her abuser
I will have my life
You will not kill me
Twelve minutes
The 210 bus on Crenshaw runs every twenty
It takes four and a half minutes 
To prepare a beans rice and cheese burrito at El Pollo Loco
I will be on stage thirty minutes for my next poetry feature

These words
These words
I am able to write these words
Because I was sixteen years old 
Waiting for a bus 
When a man pulled me in the middle of the street
Wrestled me to the ground
Until a construction worker threatened him with a pipe
What if I had a knife a gun to warn him with
Would I be locked up too

I hear rape and abuse stories every day
Every minute a woman is fighting for her life
Every second a black woman is daring to live

Yes she went back in the house
To say leave me alone
I will not run from you
Do not follow me
Do not threaten me
I mean it this time

Twenty years
This is spilled milk to cry over
We who believe in justice will not rest until it is done 
The judge's gavel was warning shot 
To you
To me

Run. Nigger. Run.

1 comment:

  1. Oh my, you say exactly what we are feeling, love this piece and the pic of you with your camera ia awesome. Love U so!!!

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