Black and White

The Capital officer lay
on the catafalque
at the Capitol.
There was an honor guard,
dignitaries spoke
in somber tones.
At Arlington cemetery,
"hallowed ground",
flower tributes,
solemn words
spoken to the rows and rows
of white stones,
in honor of the fallen
in many wars.

Where are the solemn moments?
Where are the catafalques
for the bodies
of black men, women,
even children?
Black souls
slain at street corners,
in the dark of night,
shot in their backs,
suffocated in choke holds
on the pavement
of a busy street?

There is no Arlington,
no hallowed ground for them.
Their deaths,
their graves:
the Potters' Field,
the shame of this Nation.