Polluted by the
Presence of Police—²
The cops pull us over
For Dreaming.³
Even if the cops came,
They’d just add to the Death toll—⁴
Because White men can’t Police their
Imagination—Black people are Dying—⁵
We are Shot Dead by the police for asking
To Stop being shot dead by the police—⁶
If you hear of me Dead anywhere
Near a cop—that cop Killed me.⁷
Prediction: the cop will go Free
And the boy will still be Dead.⁸
The Sheriff’s real
Dream is to be a Writer …⁹
“COP FREE ZONE” spray painted
Directly onto the Police Station: This is how to Dream!¹⁰
¹ Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things
² Franz Kafka tr. John Williams, The Trial
³ Ocean Vuong, Beautiful Short Loser
⁴ Octavia Butler, Parable of the Sower
⁵ Claudia Rankine, Because White Men Can’t
⁶ Efe Paul Azino, The Defiance of Flowers
⁷ Jericho Brown, Bullet Points
⁸ Danez Smith, Not an Elegy
⁹ Naomi Shihab Nye, Getting Over It
¹⁰ Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, Things That Make Me Feel Less Lonely