By Wendy Angela McBurney

Yes, I testify!
That they do not protect me
But will ambush me
Will kick and brutalize me till I fall 
They will beat my brow down to the ground
And wring my wrists till they burn and break off

Yes, I testify!
That they will beat my chest with iron fists
And pound my head against brick walls so that tears of anguish envelop my soul 

By Paul R. Abramson

You know the singer. The one with the pained, soul weary delivery that squeezed every last bit of feeling out a rolled-up tube of gravitas. Teetering, as she often did, on the edge of surrender, only to be revitalized, perhaps even resurrected, by the power of her song. And you and I, like awestruck passengers in the backseat of a Mercury Eight, always going along for the ride.     

That was Billie Holiday. And Strange Fruit was her song. 

By  Sylvia Byrne Pollack

Bred to be racist, 

swaddled in white, 

nourished on milk 

from anxious breasts, 

I left home not knowing 

I wore contact lenses,

believed I was 100% truthful 

when I swore I saw no difference

By James Croal Jackson

I don’t know how to help.

I have been in my house, 

mouth shut, for months 

and months and

when I speak, it is the wrong

thing, so I apologize

for everything. Mostly I am sorry

I didn’t burn the station

first.

By Yuan Changming

Of all animals, I used to wonder       

Wondering if fishes really have

As they say, the shortest memory of all: 

              Only seven seconds

Or, their pasts, if any, are supposedly 

No longer than the present moment

That is, they have virtually no pasts, nor do they

Ever care about their futures. They just keep  

By Heath Brougher

I am on one side of a canyon

and you are on the other.

There is a bridge between us

yet we remain inert, never taking

a step toward the other. Certain socially

rendered constructs have invaded

our Souls and taught us only to run

with a specific herd. I say the time 

is nigh to cast off these antiquated shackles

and free ourselves by taking a step forward. 

I say we cross the boundaries unexplored