Afterward: Emmet Till

A Poem

It was 1955

a fourteen-year-old boy died

It is 2021

the federal government stated

the case is done

Emmet’s family wonders still

will there ever be justice

for Emmet Till?

How much more time

will pass before there is

justice at last?

The accuser is now old & frail,

the murderers died before

ever seeing jail.

Emmet was just a boy

treated like an animal

in a time when Blackness

was treated like an animal

in a time, today, that Blackness

is still treated like an animal.

When will Emmet rest in peace?

When will Blackness be at peace?

Only time will tell, until then

I wish Emmet’s spirit well.