Pull The Trigger Poem by Stephanie MacMillan

Just as we were standing on the ground
And the tenants gathered with signs around
Suddenly, all the police lights on
And in the season of heat, the sweat abounds
Ricochet of bullets as the sky plummets
I was standing in the rain
Numb from the cool in the heat again
The summit of dreams climbing up me
Like a razor against the skin
And hair on my neck standing up then
That was my moment with my silver medals
And my dreams of alternatives to bullets
But I'm with a city boy, living outside
The defined social lines, the ones that define
The colour of skin, now when we start or end
Only the moment in the line of a man's sight
Different from him, that is the borderline
Of thoughts that start to confine in time
There is no fun in lying on my back
Listening to those accusations
Defending myself with my face to the ground
And the crowd patrol with hoses and dogs starts
Again and again, spinning around until the bloodletting
The crowd loves life as much as blood and death
Holding onto the moment of final breath
With a gun to my head, so go ahead
Pull off the safety, pull the trigger.