— for tamir rice & amber nicole thurman

by Evie Shockley

the play of light moving through
     infinite darkness creates
large-scale rhythms :: others, deep-
     buried, our own heartbeats generate ~

the fabric of time is black,
     a veil through which a brown-skinned
     boy goes unseen or might blend
in with shadows that attack
white imaginations ~ track
     the second hand, the eleven
     hops between tamir & heaven ::
how black child’s play compares to
the play of light ~ moving through
     life, black’s fast at twelve years even ~

the fabric of time’s a shroud
     that drags everything out, circulates
     infinite darkness, creates
around black people a cloud
that justice isn’t allowed
     to freely enter ~ we count
     the hours sepsis had to mount
its assault before the care
amber needed came :: we dare
     to hold her lost black years paramount ~

the fabric of black time folds ::
     a brutal physics that places
     their two lives’ theft not in stasis,
but proximate to the holds
of eighteenth-century ships. old’s
     not what those captured had coming,
     yet some held onto their humming
long enough to regain, keep
large-scale rhythms :: others, deep-
     wounded, hailed time by succumbing ~

the fabric of black time pleats,
     expands, contracts :: our someday
     otherworldly, far away,
dog star, north star :: the now meets
our ancient past, and light eats
     the distance :: freedom dreams wait
     buried :: our own heartbeats generate
the insistent cadence, thread
time, unravel it :: our dead,
     still alive within us, pulsate ~

Poem copyright 2024 by Evie Shockley. All rights reserved.

See two more poems from Evie Shockley debuted on The Fight & The Fiddle: “from the infinite alphabet of afroblues,”  and  “composition”

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Read more in this issue: Interview | Critical Essay | Writing Prompt