Ahmaud

Ahmaud,

a poem

"I don't know why they racially profile him

and done him like that,

because all he did is work out and ran

and just took care of his body,

because he had dreams now." -Marcus Arbery

Ahmaud,

I was the one watching,

armed with a smartphone,

and stupidity strong enough

to snuff out your dreams.

I don’t know why

I done you like that,

because you had dreams now.

I don’t know why

I didn’t run with you.

Paralysis overcame me,

so I just sat here for months,

oblivious in ignorance.

Now see how I muster

just a little indignation

to protest long enough

for a news cycle to turn over

with your ancestors

in their graves.

I don’t know why

we go and do you like that,

because you had dreams now.

Ahmaud,

are you dreaming now

that one day a man

will not be judged

by the color of his skin

but by the content of his character?

Have your dreams come true?

And am I in your dream

as one who stops just long enough

to understand that

to quote the Dreamer

for a day each year

is not the same as

to follow in his footsteps?

……………………..

Ahmaud

by troy cady