Poetry: IF HE WERE THE DOG[George Floyd] .....

he might have been afforded Respect. He may have been briefly (Womb)man handled but still somehow loved on provided for Secured. On a leash maybe but given a measure of freedom Denied to a black man by a slug with a badge His neck may have hurt from being momentarily sidelined whilst she called the Police. on the birdman But instead a father a brother a husband-to-be A citizen is Dead. A white knee is both pump and knot The lifeblood oozing out the voice still robust carrying the spirit of warriors and resisters past even as the succeeding breaths grow raspier the need to breath a request not a supplication no dignity lost no quarter even against thugs armed with the imprimatur of the State. The Code of Silence and sharing in the violence well in force A body racked with the knowledge of injustice of ingrained bias of systematic disregard This is not the dog's life He's now a celebrity even if in less salubrious surroundings The dog lives the birds fly and whistle in the Park. but George has been pushed pitched and kneed into the Void. Floyd is just the latest and by the time this poem is finished There will be another brother or sister and officials crippled by policy and Storm Troopers holding the line and the dog will likely be asleep