Breath Taking

It’s sweltering hot chained to the dark hull of this sailing ship

I can’t breathe

This white man’s sweat-stenched body pounding on top of me

I can’t breathe

Shot by a U.S. Army soldier on my own people’s reservation

I can’t breathe

This noose around my neck yanked by my own body weight tightens so fast

I can’t breathe

Thrown in a dark solitary cell for marching for women’s right to vote

I can’t breathe

Shoved off the train and crammed into this gas chamber

I can’t breathe

Thick smoke from the fire and I'm trapped on the top floor of this shirt factory

I can’t breathe

Deep in this old coal mine, the soot is so dense

I can’t breathe

An innocent man waiting for the switch in this cold electric chair

I can’t breathe

Dying of AIDS all alone, people too afraid to touch me

I can’t breathe

A young gay man beaten and tied to a ranch fence post out on this prairie

I can’t breathe

Attacked in a dark alley, I'm left to die for being trans

I can’t breathe

I'm a second grader fallen from my desk, gunned down in my elementary school classroom

I can’t breathe

People running and screaming from this gay nightclub, I am hit

I can’t breathe

Can’t take this bullying anymore, I decided to hang myself, at last

I can’t breathe

Quietly worshiping in my mosque, then I am shot in the neck out of nowhere

I can’t breathe

Lost my job and my healthcare, now I'm dying from cancer alone at home

I can’t breathe

My husband beat me harder than usual today, I’m crumpled on the floor

I can’t breathe

My black head is locked in this white police choke hold

I can’t breathe

They tore me from my mother’s arms and put me all alone in this cage

I can’t breathe

Walking in a peaceful protest, they shot tear gas in my face

I can’t breathe

Left in this COVID ICU bed, no family allowed, this hoax will kill me yet

I can’t breathe

An innocent black man, I got this police boot on my neck eight minutes, 46 seconds

I can’t breathe

                                                                           Kristin L Roush