Did I Stutter?

"ALL LIVES MATTER!"

I've never been a part of ALL.

I've been ⅗ of a person.

I've been color.

I've been minority.

I've been too illiterate to vote.

Answer me this, if all lives matter why don't I get masks when I'm in the park,

But apprehended on my way to the deli for a chopped cheese?

I see your flag with the lone blue stripe flying proudly today.

Diminishing my pain,

My right to feel.

"He shouldn't have resisted."

"They're not all ba…"

Why don't I hear Blue Lives Matter after mass shootings when an officer is killed?

Hey silent friend, I hear you clearly, too.

It's uncomfortable?

For you?

I guess you needn't worry anyway.

It's not your mirror dying in the street.

But all lives matter, right?

When I say "BLACK LIVES MATTER"

Don't correct me.

I said it right the first time.

-Mes. G