There is nothing left to say now
and nothing left to do the tears
will not come to the eyes of the child
who has kissed her mother and watched
the methodical men bind her with tape
the child
who has heard her mother’s last words
before the death
in the small Brooklyn house
with her niece and her sister
bound on the bed
packaged for death beside her
packaged and taped as she herself
had neatly packaged the drugs
she sold to buy these deaths
but before this death the child has heard
Tanisha, I love you
tell
the baby I loved her I was her mother and
then the shots the shots the shots
that cannot be comprehended
opening the door to the waiting dark
the human soul that cannot be comprehended
the dark in the soul
the hell
O nothing again and perhaps Tanisha
herself will never
speak again the horror will stop
her lips
but dear God why
even in this dark hell are our last words
always the same and no matter
what monster
has possessed our soul
do we superhuman burst from its grip
and in that final strength cry out
I love you I love you remember always
that I loved you.
O gentle Jesus meek and mild
come and kiss
this Thy child.
Photo by Thshriver via Creative Commons. Image cropped.
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