For George Floyd Was a Great Man

For George Floyd, Rest in Power, and his family, for all, with respect.
After the psalm-like forms of Christopher Smart, 1722–1771

For he was a wandering lamb trapped & lured toward the flames

For the flames were upon him for they would seal his story

For he was taken down face down body down to account

For his soul stood up & harkened the chariot song descending

For he pleaded as the fiery metals coiled upon his ebony skin

For he was our Renaissance our thirst our vessel for Freedom

For it is said he was our father our son our symbol our body

For a choir assembled on the streets in every furnace of witness

For he called upon his mother as he called upon the Source

For he was the ancestral ship burning through maps & chains

For he was the future no one had prophesied the Now & the Is

For he was taken in the evening as we noticed the power remain

Source: Poetry (April 2023)