We Must Breathe Again
A poem by Nnimmo Bassey.
By Nnimmo Bassey
Cross post from NnimmoBassey.net
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Social distances widen
As physical distances shrink
We saw this didn’t you
As the knees of the murderous cops
Dug into the neck and body of George Floyd
I can’t breathe!
graphics by Chaz Maviyane-Davies
As the fires flash
As the bullets fly
As murderous dogs
And never-heard-off-weapons of destruction are unleashed
From the white-washed-house of weapons of hate
They must hear our shouts
I can’t breathe!
Flights of fancy, flags of disgust dock the orbits above our heads
As citizens black and white, yellow and red
And others far and near
Kneel in solidarity
Against racism
Against slavery
Against colonialism
Against imperialism
Declaring
I can’t breathe!
Until the philosophy
Which hold one race superior and another
Inferior
Is finally
And permanently
Discredited
And abandoned
Everywhere is war
Me say
I can’t breathe!
Fists in the air
We kneel in solidarity
A collective push for international solidarity
And declare: never again
Will the virus of hate and racism
Take away the breath of our people
We must breathe again!