Images Near and Far, Yesterday and Today

The brown neck strains under the weight
The body pulled by gravity downward
The rope looped tightly around the tree
When will this dark soul be set free.

The people they gather from near and far

Thousands upon thousands come for the sport
They gaze and look and talk and stare
Upon this dark soul’s body hanging up there.

Lynching as public theater so some say

It was a time of bitter ugliness and cruelty
Brown skin less valuable than white skin
And who made that decision and still live therein.

The left versus the right and the right versus the left

Where is there a middle in this political world
Burning effigies we see left and right
The ugliness against the man goes on into the night.

The comedian was very foolish and we all now know

Some were gleeful and some were silent
The ugly side of the world is again amongst us all
We have chosen our sides upon the bitterness we call.

Why one scene is ok at that particular time

But now the same thing with the pages flipped
Goes against the grain of all that we hold dear
It is time for an accounting of all of us far and near.

Racism is wrong is wrong is wrong is wrong

Hatred is ugly is ugly is ugly is ugly
But sides we choose and truth we play loose
Until someone we love has his head in a noose.