Even if the cops came,
They’d just add to the Death toll:²
Because White men can’t Police their
Imagination, Black people are Dying—³
We are Shot Dead by the police for asking
To Stop being shot dead by the police—⁴
If you hear of me Dead anywhere
Near a cop—that cop Killed me.⁵
Prediction: the cop will go Free—
And the boy will still be Dead.⁶
When you die
And go to Heaven—
There’ll be No Policemen there.⁷
The Sheriff’s real
Dream is to be a Writer …⁸
Call the police—and tell them to
Watch out for a guy named Revolution—⁹
“COP FREE ZONE” spray painted
Directly onto the Police Station:
This is how to Dream!¹⁰
¹ Ocean Vuong, Beautiful Short Loser
² Octavia Butler, Parable of the Sower
³ Claudia Rankine, Because White Men Can’t
⁴ Efe Paul Azino, The Defiance of Flowers
⁵ Jericho Brown, Bullet Points
⁶ Danez Smith, Not an Elegy
⁷ Goebel Reeves, Hobo’s Lullaby
⁸ Naomi Shihab Nye, Getting Over It
⁹ Langston Hughes, Good Morning Revolution
¹⁰ Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, Things That Make Me Feel Less Lonely