A Vaccine for Violence

A poem for Ahmaud Arbery

Photo by Nicholas Bartos on Unsplash

~for Ahmaud Arbery

I refuse to watch the video
because I know how it ends,

twilight and asphalt
where all blood spills black,

the gold filigree flickers
between the branches and the sky

where the birds scatter
like seeds shed from silhouette trees,

the echo of the blast recedes,
a repetition of unrestful silence

settles down like a chest
losing its breath,

such senseless anger sparking,
into pools of fossil fuels,

because hate is a disease
of choices

where men laugh and clap
with dark stains on their shoes

and death comes too late
to cure the world of fools.