Stand silent to make a point
Actions of brutality juxtaposed with actions of bravery
Faceless but for hair blown across eyes, swept up
Location immortalized and displaced
She could be one of us – is one of us
Those pepper-spray fueled gusts resonate
Gusts of chemicals breathed in, choke, cough
Exhale with a burn fiercer than the image burned into our eyes
Burned into our hearts
Bright red
Red encircling, red reminding, red remembered
Life and passion, uncompromised
Declared loud against a backdrop of insanity
Proper outrage at the hands of humanity
Beating at a youth defenseless
It’s completely senseless
Beauty without a face, still graceful despite the mace
Your heart can’t help but tighten and race
At yet another moment of disgrace
Failure to protect and serve
At corrupt authority’s dictation of
Duty and orders to eyes glazed over
Consciences swept aside to the darkest corners
Charge in
Constant stream and spray
Overkill captured in the light of day
Just how is this okay?
Offers of apologies can’t so easily soothe injustice
How do sit-ins spiral out of control?
The attention paid – does it exacerbate pressurized events primed to blow?
Once the people find the strength
To rip the cover off oppression
Siphoning momentum from growing tensions
Backed by the wide eyes of the world
Watching far away events play out on the media stage
Can’t let such events fade away
An instance of compassion
One that broke through the desensitization of an often cynical generation
Far too used to media frenzies
Of which there are still far too many
Perhaps a tad bit sensational
But this woman could prove transformational
Transcribing more chalk lines on the scoreboard of life
More powdered tally wins for the unlikely heroes and heroines