"I can't breathe!" said a handcuffed man
Lying on the ground, trying to explain
That HE COULDN'T BREATHE! Sadly his words,
Falling on deaf ears, were said in vain.

"I can't breathe!" he said to the cop
Who had him on the ground to keep him in check.
"I can't breathe!" he told him again,
While the cop pressed his knee against his neck.

"I can't breathe!" said the man accused
Of possibly passing a counterfeit bill.
"I can't breathe!" For seven long minutes
The man repeated those words that chill.

"I can't breathe!": words reminiscent
Of Eric Garner's death in twenty fourteen.
"I can't breathe!" should have sent a signal
To others, but why did no one intervene?

"I can't breathe!" George Floyd's words
Were caught on video by someone firsthand.
"I can't breathe!" What about those words
For some of our police is hard to understand?

"I'm about to die!" the suspect added.
Will more black men suffer the same fate?
Finally, the cop removed his knee
From George Floyd's neck, but it was too late.

-by Bob B (5-28-20)