Black limbs with outstretched sleeves
full of holes and bloodstained leaves,
soughing from groves of tattered trees,
blowing mournfully in a lead-filled breeze.
Thorns stem from grafted roots
poisonous runners sprout sickly shoots
tendrils smoking, choking, twenty-one gun salute.
Eyewitness videos can’t refute.
As soaking in a withering rain
the rotten gardeners remain
now all around us bears the stain,
deaf to the haunting refrain.
M. Zane McClellan
~
Copyright © 2016
All rights reserved
The BeZine 
This piece enabled me to feel the tension so much more than any news reel could. Lives matter…all. Thank you.
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Yes, I leaned toward, and my initial reaction to the phrase was, reflexively, All lives matter. A) because they do, B) my bi-racial background, and my experience with all kinds of people has made me keenly aware of that truth.
And the phrase is not meant to deny that truth. It’s just that events make one wonder if indeed black lives matter.
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You are correct about that truth unfortunately. This piece drove it home.
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