The Heart Beats

the heart beats...pumping life though a divine system of arteries and byways
the bass moves me…the 808 mimics the beat so heavenly to hear
like the snare drum
moving in unison on the drum line
the heart pumps life
moving cells—life’s power—preserving what outside forces are built to destroy
BLOOD moving through the body
I am fighting to stay in this world
I am fighting to change the narrative
I am fighting to raise them despite the world’s wicked obsession with Black bodies in white spaces.
Our babies, our sisters, our brothers, our mothers, our fathers,, our community,
my everything
Breonna,
Ahmad,
George,
Philando,
Sandra,
Trayvon,
Tamir…too many
I am small in a world that swallows Black bodies whole
I’m gone
He said. Momma. I’m gone