a poem

Last year in u.s. history we were learning about Emmitt Till.

{read the link first if you don't know it}

here's the poem i wrote:

Emmitt's Shoes

I had been with Emmitt for a year before the incident, and i had no idea that anything like this would happen.

i was with Emmitt and his cousins.

i walked into that store.

i heard Emmitt laughing and i hear him say those two innocent words.

i helped him run away to get back to his uncle's.

where he thought he got away from it.

i was on his feet when those knocks shook the house.

i was dragged on the ground and down the stairs.

i heard the terror in Emmitt's cries.

i was there when Emmitt's face was turned inside out.

i sat there unable to stop it all, unable to prevent such a terrible thing.

i was there when his body floated head first down the river.

i was there when he lay still innocent but unrecognizable in his casket.

i'm still there underground with his innocent body slowly fading away, but never forgotten.