“I can’t breathe”
Horace Mallette
Accounting Professional / :-Author - writer - poet - wordsmith - lyricist - songwriter - Earthling - Jamaican-:
You have me flat on the ground
To you I was just a mangy hound
Your show of power
Was about making me cower
Down in the gutter
Just because of my skin colour
Listen to me please
I can’t breathe
My lungs collapsing, from the pressure of your knees
You say calm down, but you are not at ease.
Can’t you hear my cries
See the tears in my eyes
Flat on my belly, your weight on my back
My heart stutters from the ensuing attack
Your uniform gives you authority to scold
To bring me down to the ground with choke-holds
With impunity you attack my community
Even on camera you show no mercy
I can’t breathe
But do you listen to my pleads
Your weight bears down into my back
Has I gasp for air, I hear my bones crack
I feel my chest tighten
You are hell-bent on teaching me a lesson
With my hands in handcuffs
You shoo the few bystanders who shout, ‘‘THAT’S ENOUGH.”
I am blacking-out
Tasting the blood running from my mouth
I can’t breathe
I am crying
I feel the life flowing out of me, where I am lying
On the verge of dying
I see my dead mother in the distance
From her vantage point, she can give me no assistance
She weeps and whispers, “He is putting up no resistance.”
I can’t breathe
Is this how my story ends
Never again to see my families and friends
Just because of a simple matter
You are going to kill me and commit murder
My legs go limp, I see darkness coming
Does my mind deceive me, do I hear angels humming?
I can’t breathe
I am fading away
When I woke up this morning, never knew this would be my final day
I can’t breathe
I am crying and dying
Never knew I would be a victim of police killing
To be added to the statistics of your broken system
May you reap the whirlwind
For I am no longer breathing
Horace S. Mallette – I can’t breathe ?