Over city streets
last breaths of pain and fear, of desolation
gather, accusing the living
of all the peace not sowed,
all the justice not pursued,
the healing still to do

Final breaths
from every Tricia who planted seeds for all to enjoy,
from every Moe who sought to stop retaliations,
from every individual whose end came through violence
fill the air we share, pressing:
Will we inhale these precious molecules, fueling
transformation in the name of the lost,
infusing our blood to act for change overdue?
Or will they drop, unheeded
like more lead,
sent to crush us all?

–December 30, in honor of
Maurice Moe Benton, former Peaceoholic & nephew of Ronald Moten,
and Tricia McCauley, teacher to many
and the too many lost to violence
in Washington DC and around the world