The massacres of our beautiful people must STOP.
It is unconscionable and unfair to destroy so many lives
For selfish, greedy and hatred reasons. God, in his archives,
Have recorded everything, which occurred, from top
To bottom, from sunset to sunrise, from the start
To the end. God knows what’s going on in every one’s heart.
God knows what took place in Cleveland, in Charleston,
In Santo Domingo, in Staten Island, in Sparta, in North Charleston
In Buffalo, in Texas, in New York, in Ferguson.
The Lord is fully aware of what has been going on.
The massacres of our beautiful siblings cannot go on.
The brutal and deadly violence against the innocents must cease.
Too many of our people are weeping, too many are deceased
From unnecessary gun violence. Too many have been unjustly executed.
Too many egregious mistakes have been made. We need to see a STOP
Put into this nightmare, this quagmire. We need an end to this flip-flop.
Human beings are suffering and dying. Let’s not apply a band-aid
On this humongous wound. Let’s do our best to provide appropriate aid
To our serious and minor problems. Real people are being killed,
School children, churchgoers and shoppers are being killed,
We are not fantasizing; we are obviously not at the movies.
Our People are real, with human flesh; they are not dummies,
They are not actors; they are not all guilty by association.
The massacre of our innocent people must stop in this nation,
In this state, in this borough, in this city, in this town, in this school,
In this cathedral, in this church and in this community pool.
The mental and physical slayings of our people must END.
All potential perpetrators must look in the sand
To find themselves, reverse the role, think of being
A potential victim of racism, bigotry, indiscriminate shooting,
Senseless firing, ignorance and all sorts of sins under the sun.
We need to defeat the negative feelings that are eroding the fun
That God had put in our soul, and are destroying our natural gift,
Which is to love our fellow men and women. Let the Spirit lift
Us to a higher ground, to a more sane and comfortable pasture.
Let’s be human again, and be stronger, kinder and more mature.
The slayings of our beautiful must be something in the past,
Some crazy events in history, some horrible times that must not last.
Let’s free ourselves from negative emotions, let’s be free at last.
Let’s not be silent, let’s speak, and let’s tell it like it is at last. Alas!

Copyright © July 21,2015 Logerie Hébert, All Rights Reserved
Hebert Logerie is the author of several collections of poems.