Posted inPoetry

I Can’t Breathe

by Mesro Dhu Rafa'a September 8, 2020November 28, 2023

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I Can’t Breathe

by Mesro Dhu Rafa'a, Prison Journalism Project
September 8, 2020

<h1>I Can’t Breathe</h1>
<p class="byline">by Mesro Dhu Rafa'a, Prison Journalism Project <br />September 8, 2020</p>
 
<p>I need a reprieve.<br />The world is illness and violence.<br />I can’t breathe.</p>
</p>
<p>The news is full of dead received.<br />Test sites are stop-and-frisk with medical science.<br />I need a reprieve.</p>
</p>
<p>Prisons need to be relieved,<br />but Governors refuse to get in compliance.<br />I can’t breathe.</p>
</p>
<p>Police have found new places for their knees,<br />Storming ghettos like military giants.<br />I need a reprieve.</p>
</p>
<p>Rallies and gatherings where more cases retrieved<br />Because masks are ignored in defiance.<br />I can’t breathe.</p>
</p>
<p>Systemic racism and police brutality never believed,<br />even when filmed on a smartphone appliance.<br />I need a reprieve.</p>
</p>
<p>I can’t breathe.</p>


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I need a reprieve.
The world is illness and violence.
I can’t breathe.

The news is full of dead received.
Test sites are stop-and-frisk with medical science.
I need a reprieve.

Prisons need to be relieved,
but Governors refuse to get in compliance.
I can’t breathe.

Police have found new places for their knees,
Storming ghettos like military giants.
I need a reprieve.

Rallies and gatherings where more cases retrieved
Because masks are ignored in defiance.
I can’t breathe.

Systemic racism and police brutality never believed,
even when filmed on a smartphone appliance.
I need a reprieve.

I can’t breathe.

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Mesro Dhu Rafa'a

George Coles-El is a poet, writer, graffiti artist and tutor. He writes under the pen name Mesro Dhu Rafa’a, which means “stand with the sun, master of the ascendants.” During the COVID-19 pandemic, he completed an anthology of writings called "Unsung Hero." He is incarcerated in California.

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