A Man Was Lynched Yesterday Poem by James Reed

A man was lynched yesterday
He didn't even have a name
His only crime
Was not being white
For this he got himself hanged

A man was beat yesterday
Beat for having dark skin
How dare he be from
Somewhere different than us
That is a cardinal sin

A woman was raped yesterday
By a man she thought was a friend
Raped in her home
Then left beaten and alone
Screaming inside her own head

A man was shot yesterday
For loving different than you
Shot in the head
And left for dead
His partner's heart not broken in two

Is this the country we want?
I thought this was the land of the free
Gunned down for love
Or strung up for nothing
Doesn't sound free to me

Why not just let people live?
We're all different in our own way
But cut us you'll see
You bleed just like me
We're not so different at the end of the day