Minneapolis:
land of white snow and dark hearts –
one more chalked outline.
*
Means of movement for
vehicular homicide –
a reason to kill.
*
Persons of color,
your mandatory choices:
death, cage, tom, drugs, star.
*
With every badge
comes training, fraternity –
license to kill.
*
Blue eyes fear brown eyes
cops’ optic nerves triggered –
so many ways to kill.
*
Given few choices
each ends in suffering pain —
blue death on our throats.
*
If we were monsters
like you, you’d be dead –
stop killing us.
(the last 2 are written from the perspective of color as best I’m able to)
Frank J. Tassone is the host of Haikai Challenge. Frank says:
This week, write the #haikai poem of your choice (haiku, senryu, haibun, tanka, haiga, renga, etc.) about justice, particularly justice for Black people that continually endure disproportionate violence from the police.
Grace is today’s host for dVerse’ Open Link Night.
Very touching and poignant words
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Thank you, Sadje.
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You’re welcome 😊
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You did well.
Pat
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Thank you, Pat.
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Thank you for your empathy.
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You are welcome.
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Really wonderfully done.
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Thank you. I wish it was unnecessary 😦
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Yeah. 😦
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Over and over…(K)
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Reblogged this on Frank J. Tassone and commented:
#Haiku Happenings #1 (6/1/20): Jade Li’s latest #senryu sequence for my current #Haikia Challenge!
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You’re absolutely beautiful, Ms. Jade. I finally sorted out my reader and now, seeing your smile almost everyday in it, it’s just indescribable peace. Never leave.
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I’m humbled by your words, Joao-Maria ❤
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Very heartfelt, Ms. Jade. I’ve barely been able to function this past week. I hope these protests are different from all the rest that have come and gone, come and gone, come and gone, come and gone, come and gone over and over and over and now things actually do change. 🙂
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I pray you are right.
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You really reached the heart of this inequality. Great poem!
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Sara, thank you.
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Heartfelt and beautifully expressed, Jade.
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Thank you, Eugi.
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Nice description: “land of white snow and dark hearts”
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Thank you, Frank.
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It’s such a difficult thing to write about. This is a beautiful effort.
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Alexandra, thank you very much.
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Blue on Black, indeed. But my pessimistic gnome on my left shoulder says that if Trump stays in office, there are even darker days ahead. Your haiku pack a lot of punch, power, and truth.
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Thank you, Glenn. I do also.
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It pains me when all good cops are painted with the evil brush of the few. There must be some way the police departments can weed out those who wear the uniform as an excuse to bully and intimidate.
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Beverly they can if they choose to. Having a 4 year degree for all cops would be a good start. Psychological profiling as part of the hiring process, and annual “burnout screening” should be mandatory. Sweeping red flag behaviors under the rug when they happen needs to end. What is probably most difficult is the fraternal order of police bonding. These guys depend on each other for their very lives. If one rats another out, there is a perceived violation of trust.
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A sad and heartfelt sequence, Lisa. The stanza that stands out for me is:
‘Minneapolis:
land of white snow and dark hearts –
one more chalked outline.’
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Thank you, Kim. I wish they didn’t need to be written.
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Chained haiku beyond any I have ever read. Outstanding.
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Helen, thank you very much.
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Ooh this is incredibly heartfelt! May there be justice ❤️
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❤
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This poem really twisted my gut up when I read it. There is so much pain now. Let’s hope the world changes for the better because of all of this.
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Suzanne I hope so. I don’t think we can take anymore of “the usual.”
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That “I don’t think I can take anymore” feeling is really dominant right now. I had it for much of the week. I read on a spiritual site that the thought is just a few steps away from breaking through into the meditative void spaces. That idea put me on track and I listened to a lot of guided meditations until I felt clearer and more centred in myself. Right now doing that is a daily practice – kind of like taking a shower in light every day. Good luck. I hope you feel clearer soon.
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Sounds like a healthy practice! Getting out on my bike in the sunshine and brisk breeze has been helping.
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That’s good.
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This poem really twisted my gut up when I read it. There is so much pain now. Let’s hope the world changes for the better because of all of this.
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I see so much difference this time… maybe there is finally time for change.
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May be. When NASCAR takes the “heritage” flag down at the track, it’s saying something.
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