I have lived in many foreign countries
Which were not my native home.
I often experienced confusion
With local bureaucracies and protocols.
Somehow, my missteps
Never led to a single gunshot to my head.
Could it be because I was White?
Could it be because these foreign lands
Were more civilized
Than the country of my birth?
Perhaps.
Hell, who will call it my good fortune?
My good fortune equates to inequity
To another soul who shares my biology
A guest in my country
Who should have been afforded the benefit
Of the doubt.
Innocent until proven guilty....
Of what?
Improper vehicle registration?
How many of us have expired tags
Or expired licenses excused by Covid 19?
But Patrick deserves to be shot in the head
By Grand Rapids' Finest, at point blank rage?
How many more times
Till the racists give their fears a name?
Our national history tells a litany
Of mistreatment of people of color
Which Knows no nadir, it would seem.
God help us to allow our truth to find us.
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