Wake up: You don't wanna be too late

A year ago today, I was half asleep.

I heard the alarm ring through the streets

Hands up! Don’t shoot! Hands up! Don’t shoot!

and I? I pressed snooze.

A year ago today, I went back to sleep –

this isn’t a Thing; it Happens, that’s it.

during which I Had A Dream.

Where I saw faces upon faces

belonging to the bodies upon bodies

of lost somebodies.

Our brothers and sisters:

Human. People.

Murdered. Slain. Executed.

and I? I was realizing that

this nightmare was THE reality.

A year ago today, I walked in a daze

Through life.

It can’t touch me. It’s not about me.

and I? I said, no.

They are my cousins, my family,

my neighbors and friends.

They are my people:

My Fellow Americans.

I read, I heard and I learned.

I listened to their voices,

their stories, their cries.

A year ago today, I turned over

Walked away from

my comfortable bed.

Opened My Eyes

And became

Woke as fuck.