this morning
i woke up with my ears ringing
i think
i dreamt of the screams of fatherless boys
& they’ve been echo
in my head all day
& i thought
i was going to write a metaphor
about black folks being murdered
& jesus christ
but i’m tired
& we don’t get
crosses
& there’s no
forgiveness
just
cold concrete
&
i’m not callin anyone
a
god
but it’s not like y’all
are callin us
human
either

& i think it’s important
to note that:
i’ve never seen
a dead white person
i don’t have the fingers
to count how many dead black folks i have seen
& i don’t mean
when i look in the mirror
& ask
if i will be ghost
by this time tomorrow
i mean
how long
will you consume our deaths
click link
view:
our bodies, gunshots
click link
watch:
no indictment
click link:
black pain.
click link:
repeat

white privilege
is watching these videos
& moving on
i don’t think we get lives
i think
we’re born
then we wait to be ghosts
this morning,
i shoved my face into my pillow
& screamed
for everyone

_______________________________________________

RebeccaLynn Gualtieri is a Boston based poet who eats too much pizza and yells poetry anywhere she can.

find her on rebeccalynnwritten.com