Black Lives Matter
in Charleston, in Minneapolis
in Buffalo, in Louisville, in Kenosha, and on 
and on and on…

In 1950’s Kentucky,
my father the school superintendent
integrated the Black schools 
into the county
so white folk
who did not like this progress
threw rotten tomatoes
and eggs at our house
that splattered our front porch,
covered the windows 

Daddy said you respect
all your fellow human beings
and treat all as equals; 
remember, you are no better
than any other person

Posters pasted on walls  
covering store fronts, 
headlines in the papers

Marchers with slogans  
on banners
Slowly disappear,  
people disremember 

Lives Matter 
Until they don’t