Moment of silence

Like all of us, I’ve been trying to process the feelings generated at the murder of George Floyd this week. This poem is an attempt to comprehend the incomprehensible. We have to do better.

Moment of silence

Moment of silence 
Moment of death
The moment in which 
The knee took his breath. 

Moment of silence 
The world, we stood by 
Too used and too muted 
To stand up and cry. 

Moment of silence
Moment of pain
Black out, on the pavement 
Moment of shame,
Last breath,
‘I can’t breathe’
Last words, let them rain
He was called George Floyd
Say it loud
Say his name. 

Push beyond
‘I don’t get it’
Past judgement 
Past privilege,
Past distance 
Past ignorance 
Past apathy
And own it. 

Lay down on the ground
Push your face to the floor
Feel the stones in your temple 
Feel the grit ‘gainst your jaw,
Keep your lids open
Look into his eyes
Make him a promise
As he cries, slowly dies -

George, I didn’t know you
I don’t know where you’re from
Took your death for us to see you
And now you are gone,
Your innocence was taken
Due to the colour of your skin
But I promise you George
We will not let them win. 
I know you are fading
Like many others before
But we won’t let you go 
Invisible racists, no more. 

George, I know this is it
We’ve all seen the clip
We can’t change the ending 
The quivering lip,
The desperate appeal
For the most fundamental right 
For air in your lungs 
But you can’t win this fight,

George... George?
George are you still here?

You’re gone. 

And for what?
For bigotry and fear. 

I’m sorry George, we’re sorry
We won’t let you down
We will keep alive your legacy
We will not allow
This moment of silence 
To quiet in our hearts 
The fire that we need 
To make this end a new start,
In which love is the winner
Over violence, over hate
We’re so sorry your silence 
Was the price, was your fate,
Was the moment of realisation 
That led to our voice
To us coming together 
To see that we do have a choice,

We choose to honour you in death 
With actions that change
No more tolerance of racism 
No silent moments in vain.
- Say. his. name.

Image credit: Jerry Holt / Star Tribune via AP