"I Can't Breathe!"

"I can't breathe!" said a handcuffed man

Lying on the ground, trying to explain

That HE COULDN'T BREATHE! Sadly his words,

Falling on deaf ears, were said in vain.

"I can't breathe!" he said to the cop

Who had him on the ground to keep him in check.

"I can't breathe!" he told him again,

While the cop pressed his knee against his neck.

"I can't breathe!" said the man accused

Of possibly passing a counterfeit bill.

"I can't breathe!" For seven long minutes

The man repeated those words that chill.

"I can't breathe!": words reminiscent

Of Eric Garner's death in twenty fourteen.

"I can't breathe!" should have sent a signal

To others, but why did no one intervene?

"I can't breathe!" George Floyd's words

Were caught on video by someone firsthand.

"I can't breathe!" What about those words

For some of our police is hard to understand?

"I'm about to die!" the suspect added.

Will more black men suffer the same fate?

Finally, the cop removed his knee

From George Floyd's neck, but it was too late.

-by Bob B (5-28-20)