The Vanity of the Smug

You would not think a man would be shot

For a simple broken taillight.

You would not think a police officer would

shoot a man in the back in cold-blooded murder.

I did not know that broken taillights and running away in fear

were crimes punishable by death

and carried out by one man

as judge, jury and executioner, but

apparently in some parts of this country this is so,

especially if the officer is white

and the person who was murdered commits the crime

of being poor and black.

And the Smug Man Stands

over the dead man with his hands on his hips

and a shield on his breast,

and lies once again.

But this time,

This Time

His shield does not protect!

His shield does not keep him from the consequences of his lie,

because of an ordinary man

and his video camera

Which records the truth

and reveals the lie.

And a nation rises up and says, NO MORE!

And the people rise up and scream, NO MORE!

I do not want to see what I see.

I do not want to believe what I see.

I want to turn away.

I do not want to watch that man being gunned down.

I want to turn the channel and see something nice.

But therein lies the problem.

We need to LOOK!

WE need to see!

We need to see IT!

~Kathie Adams Brown (April 10, 2015)

NaPoWriMo 2015 / 30  Poems in 30 Days

The Monster Among Us

Living next door in the boarded up house

Dwelt a monster dressed as a man

Walking among us, smiling at you

He is your neighbor you never knew

Of the dark secret hiding inside

In the dark house

In those dark rooms

With no one to see,

No one to hear

Their silent cries.

Their life was a nightmare no one should live

Every day filled with horror— no way to escape,

And the MONSTER FED ON HIS PREY.

He devoured their souls,

Then, he walked among us

And we didn't know.

How did he hide all that evil inside?

Inside his shell,

Inside his house,

Inside his empty eyes?

Could no one see the monster inside?

Could no one hear those little girl’s cries?

~kathie adams brown (May 9, 2013)