“We have Eric Garner’s air in our lungs tonight” – Andrea Gibson
By Eve Lyons
1. Justin Damico
Some say he’d just broken up a fight
Some say he was selling loosies
We’ve seen him hanging out here before
Always up to no good
Always looking to start trouble.
Damn you, Daniel, damn your pride.
Now we’re both stuck on desk duty.
2. Ramsey Orta
We all got smart phones these days
We can all be journalists
Don’t matter anyway, even when we get it all on tape
Police officers’ word is bond.
Brown peoples’ word ain’t shit.
Three weeks later I’m the one arrested
While those murderers keep their jobs
No justice, no peace.
3. William Bratton
I grew up in Dorchester in the 50s and 60s
Graduated Boston Technical High school,
went into the army. I paid my dues.
I’ve been police in two different cities,
ran the MBTA police for a spell.
I know my way around this kind of thing.
Being commissioner isn’t the same as being police
More politics than policing
My job is to make people feel safe,
believe the system isn’t rigged.
But these days I dine with the mayor.
4. Eric Garner
“Every time you see me, you want to mess with me.
I’m tired of it. It stops today.
Everyone standing here will tell you
I didn’t do nothing. I did not sell nothing.
Because every time you see me,
you want to harass me.
You want to stop me selling cigarettes.
I’m minding my business, officer,
I’m minding my business.
Please just leave me alone
please just leave me alone.”
Eve Lyons is a poet whose work has appeared in many literary magazines and anthologies, including recently in Hip Mama, Dead Mule of Southern Literature, and the Jewish Literary Journal, as well as Lilith and Word Riot. Visit her website at evealexandralyons.wordpress.com.
Photo credit: Louis Lozowick’s lithograph Lynching, 1936, from The Smithsonian via a Creative Commons license.