Don't Shoot Me

A lovely day,

Dull yet gay,

For a peace

Prevailed.

But all was gone

In the blink of an eye.

A thunder

Shook the world.

I looked through

The shaded window

Of a blue car

To the other side.

What I saw

I can never forget,

A wound so deep

Was never made.

Bang, bang, bang;

Bullets whizzed out

Numerous guns;

Bang, bang, bang.

Bullets pierced

His frail human vessel.

Blood gushed out

From the open wounds.

Not more than

A few groans

Did he give;

No life was left within.

I sat down

Too afraid to scream,

It was too much

For a little girl.

I wept

Without a sound,

As my heart

Shivered with the shots.

They wouldn’t stop

Even when he was dead,

Even when a pool

Of blood spread around.

I was frozen

With fear.

Blood collected

Under me.

I was sitting

In a pool

Of an innocent’s

Blood.

Now I’m afraid

To be white or black,

To have a

Caste, creed or color.

What wrong

Had he done?

To be born

A black?

Since when

Was man

Given the right

To judge?

His view can be blurred,

His judgment wrong,

His heart partial,

His mind obstinate.

Is this what

We teach our kids?

That colors

Rule our lives?

A black man

Stole because

He wanted

To steal.

A white man

Stole because

He had

No choice.

All black men

Are in gangs.

All white men

Are racists.

It’s like saying

(before you know),

That caterpillars

Can never fly.

No one can be sure

Of anything,

For change

Is always here.

So before you pull out

That gun without a thought-

I have my hands up,

Don’t shoot me…