By Carolynn J. Scully
Member-at-large

when I watch a man struggle from
another’s knee pressed hard
on his neck squeezing his
windpipe against the pavement

when I imagine the broken heart
of a shattered mom who watches
and hears the moment a circle
of merciless monsters ignite her loss

when I think of innocents in the path
of out of control mobs with demands
but mindless when they bruise and
crush those integrated with them

when counting the daily numbers
of those who can’t breathe
in the battle against their bodies
and those who are lost in this war

when behind my mask I watch eyes
wanting to be named, touched,
and valued — like me — in community
where we all are free to breathe free