Matters

I’m Christian Cooper & I was bird watching in the park when you went by

You broke the rules, with your dog unleashed, you didn’t have to lie

Luckily you were recorded, or else, it could’ve been my day to die

You nearly put my life in danger

Almost punished for the fibs of a privileged stranger

While thankful for the days that God lets pass,

If I were invisible I could freely be, but alas,

Is my blood not the color red, like you?

So shouldn’t my life still matter too?

My name was Ahmaud Arbery, a young man just out for a run

All I had were my earphones-nothing that stuns

I was only listening to music then

My life was snuffed out by your guns

Now at least 1 family cries, thinking of when being outside was safe & fun

should I, a fellow American have hidden, and not had hobbies, like you?

Didn’t my life matter too?

My name was George Floyd, and I had just left the store

You had me cuffed and pinned down, the sizzling concrete made my cheek sore

Yet when onlookers and I told you I couldn’t breathe,

Because of my skin tone, you chose not to believe.

I was a man with a story, my blood was red as yours

Yet you chose to see an alien enemy

Though we may have gone through the same doors.

If I were a blue-blooded alien, you may have valued me,

but I wonder, why should that be?

My skin was just my container, I was human like you

So why didn’t my life matter too?

M. Kikuyu, "SimSim", 29 May 2020