Poem by Adrian Ernesto Cepeda

Another night in Ferguson

I saw some strangers marching
like the drumbeats of the blues;
all I hear is gunshots
they said the rainbows fading
from the bleeding on their shoes.
Setting off teargas clouds,
why are the masked men
in armor laughing with their triggers?
Our fires seethe from smoke
that burns, we keep inhaling
while the sinners keep on aiming
as angels cover faces
unarmed we stand accused.
Their force is so excessive
using lefts, forgetting our rights
cut we’re bruised with handcuffs
so much color on the news.

They say our verdict is coming
but lady justice feels blind
and your prayers may feel confused.
You better off to phone a lawyer
even the holiest will be arrested
as our midnights rein curfew.
Everybody knows after
the coverage cameras
drops their focus to leaves us,
this channel never changes;
we cannot blend in darkness
hearing sirens makes us
raise our hands like targets
conjures sirens of guilty feelings—
Why are we strangers on our streets?
Heavy chains like concrete on our feet,
another night in Ferguson—
we will always feel pursued.

Adrian Ernesto Cepeda is an L.A. poet whose work appears in the new True Romance Poems collection, 1000 Tankas for Michael Brown, The Lake Poetry, Edgar Allen Poet Journal # 2, Fukushima Poetry Anthology, San Gabriel Valley Poetry Quarterly, Spilt Ink Poetry, Luna Luna Magazine’s Latino Poetry Project, Love Poetry Lovers, ZO Magazine, The Rain, Party, & Disaster Society and Men’s Heartbreak Anthology in the soon to be released publications: Purrfect Poetry Anthology and Poetry in Motion’s collection Poems to Fuck to. He is currently enrolled in the MFA Graduate program at Antioch University in Los Angeles.

Hannah Brown is a Boston area-based poet and spoken word artist. She is currently in Ferguson, Missouri for the grand jury decision on the Michael Brown shooting.