First off, this is dedicated to the life and legacy of Breonna Taylor. Secondly, it is a call for Black folk who been sleeping to wake up.
we can’t sleep because
she can’t sleep
eyes like brown
skin like me
she was resting her wearied body and
her wearied soul
so tired
a special tired we’ve all come to know
after work, faces masked metaphorically too and questions asked
facing age old tests designed for us not to pass
a day in the life of being Black
she was tired
we’re all tired at the end of the day
she lay in her bed she rested her head in
the comfort of her own home
because home is all we got these days we’ve all come to know
her last night at home she bled from her bed
not in sleep but in death she
was sleeping while they were knocking
down her door
guns blazing in the middle of the night
in the middle of the dark
it’s amazing that folks who look like me are saying that it’s her fault
eyes like brown
skin like me
she was sleeping
and you been sleeping too
but your sleep ?
damn, your sleep really is a crime
blaming her for the people she knew
blaming her for the streets and the crew
blaming her for something she had nothing to do
with
drug dealers and the wheelers and the dealers
people we know, people we love
even when we don’t agree with what they done done
maybe she loved one, maybe she knew many
I don’t really care because
she should still be here and the cops still shouldn’t have been there
in the middle of the night
a slaughtered queen, a snuffed out life
you would know it ain’t right
if only you knew yourself
if only you knew
but you don’t because
you been sleep
Dr. Kiara Shanay Lee 