Renee Nicole Good:

they shot her
in the snow-stiff morning
Minneapolis held its breath
like a wound too long ignored
37 years worn into her bones
a mother of three
Renee Good
gone in the exhale of a bullet
fired into the side of her SUV
caught on phone cameras
strained through shock and tears
and disbelief
because the world doesn’t want to see this again
but here it is
and here we are. they say
she weaponized her car
like terror is something you can drive
like fear is a crime to be shot down
and they call it self-defense
while neighbors scream
‘she was pulling away’
and trail of protests grows
from Minneapolis to New York
to San Francisco
to Chicago
thousands refusing to let silence be the verdict. federal agents bring more boots, more guns,
more orders that tighten like nooses
in a city that learned its name in pain
and everyone wonders
how many deaths it takes
before the machine vomits justice
before the cameras don’t lie
before real oversight says
enough. and when the state is barred
from the evidence
when the feds keep the tapes
like truth is something to be locked away
you feel it
that ancient ache
that nothing worth defending
ever comes easy. so tonight
we remember her name
echoing in chants
in vigils
in the crackle of cold streets
voices rising
saying not again
like breath
like hope
like fire
and you can hear it
even over the gunshots.