by Jean Varda
We all felt it when the
men in uniform
tore him from his car,
threw him on the
pavement pressed his
face into the sidewalk.
We all felt it when they
tased and pepper sprayed
him as he ran for his life.
We all felt it when they
punched kicked and
stomped him.
We all heard him when he
called for his mother,
as he felt his life spiral
away from him
and we heard her
heart break.
Jean Varda's poetry has appeared in The New Verse News, California Quarterly, Evening Street Review, Raven's Perch, and Boston Literary Magazine. She recently published an anthology of her poetry titled: Oracle. She resides in Northern California where she leads writing groups and is writing her memoirs.