Beneath the Tide

There is blood on the street

Blood now smeared on jogging shoes

and a twenty-dollar bill

There is blood on the street

and it coats toy guns

and Walmart purchases

and legal gun permits

There is blood on the street

and it seeps over

all five flavors of Skittles

There is blood on the street 

where paid executioners,

awaiting the next neck,

sharpen the blades 

of their guillotine 

There is blood on the street 

and our tires continue 

their rotations as if it were 

but a minor inconvenience

There is blood on the street 

and it covers the tears, 

pleas, vomit, and finally silence 

of Elijah McClain’s 

open-face ski mask

There is blood on the street 

and it has left indelible stains

on grandma’s backyard

There is blood on the street 

collecting until it flows

like a river

A river so deep

that many are sucked

under its current,

gasping for a final breath

There is blood on the street 

The rapids crashing 

through windows and doors

of presumed safety

There is blood on the street 

that fails to signal

for a lane change

as it devastates

a Wendy’s parking lot

There is blood on the street 

A river of blood

beneath the valleys 

of indifference

and intimidation

There is blood on the street 

cutting a canyon 

of pain and suffering 

and lost childhood

There is blood on the street 

and it has sullied

our unwashed hands 

There is blood on the street

but even as the evidence

pools at our feet,

many continue to deny 

the existence of bloodstains

There is blood on the street 

but some cry how we need

to protect the asphalt

There is blood 

There is blood 

There is blood 

                                on the street 

written July 1, 2020