for Keith Lamont Scott & Brentley Vinson

after the fall

he sometimes sees things

that are not there.

the book becomes a gun;

the gun becomes a book.

he cannot distinguish between faces.

the suspect and the bystander

look the same

with their mouths

where their eyes should be.

(but the cop was black too, right?

how could he make that mistake?)

forgetting is common

after incurring trauma.

I’d like to test your memory.

please circle one:

he was …

armed/unarmed

advancing [aggressively]/retreating [out of fear]

his hands were …

up [in surrender]/down [in fists]

he is …

dead/dead

when you look at this picture of the deceased

(and his seven children)

what do you see?

don’t say [nigger];

don’t say [nigger];

[don’t say] nigger.

there words missing this sentence;

there are years from his sentence.

how do you expect me to process this?

how do you expect me to process this.

have you seen Memento?

.sdrawkcab si gnihtyreve

the end is the beginning:

all of us chained together here

in complete darkness.