Last week a man got shot
for BHWB - being home while black
Ain’t that a bitch?

Last week a cop
didn’t know which home was hers
so she shot a man
And - get this -
They checked HIS apartment for drugs
Ain’t that a bitch?

How good are the drugs in Dallas
that they make others rampage & rage?
I admit
I’ve been too high to find my own house
but I’ve never not found my way home
because someone else owned some weed

We all know it’s dangerous
To shout racism in the crowded theater
to be the outcast       the rebel        the shout in the dark
Seems it’s just as dangerous
To be the hermit       the wallflower           the hikikomori
when the light switch is flipped

They blamed a man for getting shot
by a very confused cop
Ain’t that a bitch?

Last week they released a cop who shot a man
for being home
Without bail
& those who protested
sat in jail unless they paid
Ain’t that a bitch?

America - don’t forget that this isn’t that unusual
Amber Guyger - don’t forget her actions
Botham Jean - don’t forget his name

MATTHEW HUPERT is author of ISM IS A RETROVIRUS (Three Rooms Press 2011) ans is currently hosting the NeuroNautic Institute reading series at The Red Room in NYC, monthly. His nextbook, Secular Pantheism, is due out in 2019 from NeuroNautic Press.