for Walter Scott, murdered April 4, 2015 by Officer Michael Slager
See the police officer fire eight rounds
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
Watch Walter Scott crumple to the earth
See the officer saunter toward the lifeless
Fifty-year-old father of four
With the utmost nonchalance
No evidence of concern or alarm
About the murder he has just committed
Just a little stroll in the park
Just another day at work
Oh look! A body on the ground
Are you alive Mr. Black Body?
Just in case I will handcuff you Mr. Dangerous Black Body
Here is a fellow officer
I will explain to him how you overpowered me
How you wrestled my stun gun away from me
And made me afraid for my life
Where is that stun gun?
Ah yes back there where I fired from
I will bring it here
To place beside you Mr. Black Body
It will be exhibit A
Buff Whitman-Bradley is the author of four books of poetry, b. eagle, poet; The Honey Philosophies; Realpolitik; and When Compasses Grow Old; and the chapbook, Everything Wakes Up! His poetry has appeared in many print and online journals. He is also co-editor, with Cynthia Whitman-Bradley and Sarah Lazare, of the book About Face: Military Resisters Turn Against War. He has co-produced/directed two documentary films, the award-winning Outside In (with Cynthia Whitman-Bradley) and Por Que Venimos (with the MIRC Film Collective). He lives in northern California.