June 1, 2020 · 3:35 pm
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What Is The Colour Of Guilt? – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

Photo: time.com


"There comes a time when silence is betrayal."  Martin Luther King Jr.

What Is The Colour Of Guilt?

We thought he had a gun,
she was in the way,
he walked towards me,
she was similar to the picture,
he was eratic,
he was suspicious,
she reached into her handbag
he was filming me,
she was unwell,
he looked like a perp,
he was known,
he argued,
the neighbour said,
we didn't know it was a phone,
he crashed his car,
there was a phone call,
O, it was a toy gun,
He shot himself while handcuffed,
he was running,
he was asleep but he was armed,
he was in the shop,
He was high,
she was arguing,
there were drugs,
he laughed,
O, he was in his own yard,
mistaken identity,
he was helping police,
he looked at me,
he was mentally ill,
she was homeless,
unpaid fines,
the white man said,
the white woman said,
he was black,
she was balck,
a counterfeit twenty dollar note,
8.46,
a cheap life
when you stand in blue
above the law you uphold,
you can make up a story
to make their innocence 
suit your crime,
what is the colour of guilt?

©Paul Vincent Cannon

Note: To say that Black Lives Matter is not to diminsh other lives, especially Indigenous lives, but they simply make the point about injustice. Statistics don't actually bear out the injustice until you look deeply at the cases - unarmed, ill, mistaken identity, and many innocent people. 

Paul, pvcann.com

27 Comments

Filed under community, death, Free Verse, injustice, life, poem, politics, quote, Racism

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27 responses to “What Is The Colour Of Guilt? – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon”

  1. michnavs
    June 1, 2020 at 3:45 pm

    Ohh this so true..and heartbreaking

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  3. msjadeli
    June 1, 2020 at 4:13 pm

    When you lay out those lame excuses and then you connect each one to a murder it makes quite an impact.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  4. paeansunplugged
    June 1, 2020 at 5:12 pm

    Guilt has been whitewashed, Paul.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  5. Amy
    June 2, 2020 at 4:02 pm

    Thank you for the poem. Thank you for the note. My heart is heavy these days…

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  6. Rupali
    June 2, 2020 at 7:53 pm

    Thanks for such to the point poem Paul.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  7. lync56
    June 3, 2020 at 2:56 am

    This needs to be called out more and more – well said

    >

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  9. OIKOS™-Publishing
    June 4, 2020 at 10:14 am

    In the meantime, one might think that guilt has a skin color. A different one in each country. Horrible and sad, what happend again. Michael

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  10. GoldGoddess
    June 12, 2020 at 1:33 am

    One of the incidents happened walking distance from my house. I’m thankful there not forgotten 💔

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  11. GoldGoddess
    June 12, 2020 at 2:00 am

    Yes. People think we’re just angry, we’re hurt more than anything! I always tell people that everyone is someone’s loved one, treat them like you want your loved one to be treated. That goes for 👏🏽every👏🏽human👏🏽being on Earth!! There’s no way these officers would’ve been ok with someone doing this to their family members! It’s not ok! All cops are not bad btw, I’ve had a lot of help from good cops!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • pvcann
      June 12, 2020 at 11:39 am

      Good point, yes, so why is it acceptable based on race? It beggars belief that this can happen, and makes me wonder how systemic it is if it is so prevalent is it part of the training? Horrible.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

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