Poetry

SOUTHBOUND WITH A CIGARETTE

for Sandra Bland, a black woman found hung in her jail cell three days after being arrested for a failure to signal

When I saw the articles,

heard your story,

I felt pain

But pain so much less

than your scraped knees on the pavement,

     hands in cuffs,

     breath blowing smoke,

     ears ringing,

     dropped cigarette

"Ma'am, do you know why I pulled you over?"

     Puffing a cig

     It's Friday

You were waiting

You were both waiting

Him

     for the chance to pull you over

     to prove his bias

You

     for the chance to fight

     to change the course of history

     to be black

And smoking a cigarette

     in a silver Hyundai

     at 4:27 p.m. on July 10th, 2015

     with a license plate from Illinois

You

     Sandra Bland

Southbound with a cigarette