George Floyd

I wonder what our brother
George Floyd thought
As he sat and watched
The news unfold
Of Ahmaud’s murder

Did he think the same thing
many with black skin
have wondered?
“Will I have to be the one
for the nation to see
That this is a consistent,
everyday
catastrophe?”
Did he lament to his family
Share the anger and resignation
So many of us felt
When Ahmaud was murdered?

And then the news of a sister
Breonna Taylor
Came across the screen
Daughters and mothers
Have always been a target
Of white violence
From those in power
And yet again we’re here
Mourning the loss
Of another

Did our brother Floyd
Lament in silence
Asking God
“When will this end?”
Then turn off the screen
Walk to his car
And feel the shared tension
Of so many in our nation?
Having become accustomed
To the never ending violence
Knowing each year passes by
Black people die
While the world complies

Did he drive to work and pray
“Keep our sons and daughters safe”
While brothers and sisters
Who shared his faith
Expressed concern
Not for black lives as a whole
Just this isolated “shocking” incident of Ahmaud’s murder

And did George Floyd wonder,
“When will they see, it’s not just here and there
But everywhere?
Will it take someone like me
Being murdered?”

With each event
That lights up the sky
We imagine the loss
Of our own sons and daughter
Becoming widows
Losing fathers and mothers
And even if we don’t expect
It to hit our very door
Generations being formed
Through violence and deliverance
Means we feel it’s personal
Because it is

So while I lament
And grow weary
Wishing they’d wake up
Spirit of the Living God
Calm the raging storm in me
May I sit in your hand
Commit my spirit
To your will knowing
Not one drop of blood
Will go unavenged
And give me the strength
To faithfully resist the violence
Even if it will not be my generation
That enters the promised land