Part One of a Courtroom Sonnet Series

I

 

What did they say in courtroom three-o-two

When one man’s life had been subjected to

A systematic slaughter in the clink

Where cuffs like couplets tore through his cufflinks

 

And turned one strong black man into chattel?

 I watched through the door, heard his chains rattle

Beats from a song sung by qunta quinte

But he did not scream ‘gives us free’ that day.

 

And I saw in his muscles the power

Restrained, confined hour on hour

While a ‘justice system’ cried first degree-

The melody of an all white jury.

 

The record that I read was disfigured.

“convicted.,,” I heard “Hang the nigger.”