someone was reported
to be lurking
in the shadows
and making noise
by a dumpster
down a poorly lit alleyway ~
when the police arrive
the person
looks to have on
dark clothes
with a so-called
hoodie
and maybe carrying
something
in one hand ~
a yell ….. goes out
from the police
‘put it down’
the person
suddenly turns toward
one of the officers
and is abruptly greeted
with the barrel of a gun ~
~ startled
the person
in the hoodie
raises the object …..
shots ring out
and lives are
forever
destroyed …….
the news reports
police officer
shoots a mentally ill
homeless person
from a local shelter
who was holding
a moldy loaf of bread
taken from a dumpster
HOW ~ HOW
does something
like this happen
could it be from
an isolated
social conditioning
that sows
an evasive
behavioral type
of mental weed
with the enabling
and perceptually
inhibitive roots
of predisposition
inhibition
and stereotype
where human profiling
misleadingly gets
the firm grounding
to provide an accurate
assessment …..
based on classifications
like race ~ skin color ~
sex ~ gender ~ nationality
ethnicity ~ culture ~
belief or economic status
although ….. in reality
such labels produce
an effect knowing as
Pinocchio-ing
pure deception
which eventually ~
becomes exposed
only to be in the end
a pack of lies
after coloring perception
as to what’s
really transpiring
at any given moment ….
for instance
if someone was reported
to be lurking
in the shadows
and making noise
by a dumpster
down a poorly lit alleyway
when the police arrive
the person
looks to have on
dark clothes
with a so-called
hoodie
and maybe carrying
something
in one hand ~
peace out
Art/Image by Helene Ruiz
Words by ~Keith Alan Hamilton~