Tears

I’m crying for names I can’t hold, for people I’ll never know.
They took Liam in the afternoon.

Afternoon brings no mercy, only vans.
In unmarked vans, they hunt for anyone brown, or anyone holding phones.

They shot Renée for watching, Alex for standing between.
To stand between means three shots, ten shots.

The shots keep coming, Minneapolis keeps bleeding, and the US dies.
The deaths began when vans were chosen over mercy.

We chose vans over children, murder over witness.
To witness now means risking everything, your life.

Witnesses, those who speak are met with hate, hate like bullets.
The hate keeps firing, and our tears continue to fall.

Tears fall for Liam, for Renée, for Alex, for what we’ve become.
I’m crying for names I can’t hold, for people I’ll never know.