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Photo by Marc Wieland on Unsplash

Dedicated to George Floyd’s Family

I’m dying from pain in this hypercritical world; 
I have to camouflage my tears, so I cry in the rain. 

Why should I change, when no matter what I’ve been through,
or who I’ve become, they treat me the same? 

They, the killer police; they, the injustice system; they,
the selfish, crooked politicians and; they who sympathize with them,

While we, the innocent victims; we, the judicially neglected;
we, the people murdered by the hands of they, who should
be rendering us protection;
And I ask, why do we have to live like this,
walking with signs beside babies that come up to our thighs,
holding up a clenched fist,
next to Whites with confused views,
tired of straddling the fence, but peep this…

We’ve been in need for years like this;
Held down by that knee for years like this,
Haven’t breathed for years like this,
yet we are still here and will be for years like this,
Powerful we are… 8:46.

Disclaimer: The views in this article are those of the author. Prison Journalism Project has verified the writer’s identity and basic facts such as the names of institutions mentioned.

O’mar Mali'k Jefferson Sr. is a writer and poet incarcerated in California. He uses words to depict what he sees and is published on "Words Uncaged." Poetry is his outlet for pain, joy and every emotion he feels.