Make the world,
this world,
a better place.

Create a living legacy,
a will that is
implemented at will

by your decision
to break the rules
that keep

the traditions
which keep people
in neat categories:

us and them
you and me
me and not you.

Step away
from the tradition
of creating

neighborhoods
identified by
race, religion, color.

Challenge, question
and confront
the police

when they
justify shootings
inspired by hate

and a commitment
to keep this country
as white as possible.

I find
no comfort
in cursing you.

I will let fear,
doubt and insecurity
haunt you.

You know
what was passed
on to you,

your legacy
of all
ill-gains.

Your people
may not have
burned crosses,

but they
did the
Devil’s work

by quietly
bearing
false witness,

rewriting history
to justify
their crimes.

They gave the Devil
reason to laugh
at God,

and God
looked down
and wept.

 

Janet Cormier is a painter, writes prose and poetry, and performs comedy. JC prefers different and original over pretty. She loves collecting stuff, but cleaning not so much. Janet also talks to strangers. A lot. Her column appears weekly on Oddball Magazine.