This is a poem that will probably need constant revision – not for poetry’s sake, but because there is repeatedly one damn killing after another. So the list will grow longer, and people of color, and LBGT folks, will make up the majority of this list. Unless “things change.” Unless “we reckon with our history and do something.” Unless “the system is dismantled and rebuilt in a new way.”
So, as the poem says, “whatcha gonna do?” It’s a question I keep asking myself, as well.
Say Their Names
Allyson Sawtell
Updated 4/21
Say their names: George Floyd Breonna Taylor Adam Toledo Daunte Wright Ma’Khia Bryant Ahmaud Arberry Dominique Rem’mie Fells Tony McDade Oh, and Treyvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, Elijah McCain, Oh, and Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Ramarley Graham, Paul Childs Oh, and Emmitt Till, and, and, and back to 1619 Children, men, women, transgender, and gender fluid. Say their names: Our lips go numb Say their names: A litany too long Say their names: And whatcha gonna to do? Thoughts and prayers are not enough.