YO MUVA

by Judy Juanita

Don't know Scott  Adams or his mother, 

Dilbert's done 

Yo muva

Don't know Tyre Nichols' mother

RowVaughn Wells wearing the shroud 

in Tennessee

(this week)

But to the five little pigs in black-skinned masks 

In Tennessee 

(this week)

Yo muva

Where is George Floyd's mother?

Where is she?

My God. Where is she?

Can such a body of water be found on a map?

"Your mama’s a whore, sucker,” Eldridge shouted at University of California, Berkeley in his last demented era
Yo muva

George Floyd begged for his muva
Long gone from this bitter earth

Tyre called for his muva
Three blocks away

The muva in me can't stomach 
one more investigation 
No more chest thumping
the muva in me won't last 
one more minute
Yo muva 
Yo muva
Yo muva
Yo muva

I told my grandson
 I HATE WHITE PEOPLE 
Then I qualified it. 
NOT ALL WHITE PEOPLE, NOT MY FRIENDS, NOT INDIVIDUALS, JUST THIS ROTTEN HOLLYWOOD-BASTARDIZED APPROPRIATED CULTURE THAT HAS GLORIFIED WHITE PEOPLE AND GIVEN EVERYONE PERMISSION TO EXTERMINATE US.
Permission to hold us on the ground and exterminate us like vermin

But that dresses up "the talk"
What I have to say
To the nth degree
Where karma waits like a volcano
Where the long arc of justice bends
And bends until it breaks
And gets repaired with Krazy Glue 
Where some Pope sits on a throne with a potty seat hooked up beneath his flaccid ass 
In between “the talks” about keeping his hands visible on the steering wheel
And being careful about predawn sneaky links in ritzy white neighborhoods

Is

Yo muva


Judy Juanita's semi-autobiographical novel about her youthful experience in the Black Panther Party Virgin Soul was published by Viking in 2012. In 2021, her short story collection The High Price of Freeways (Livingston Press, 2022) won the Tartt Fiction Prize. Her poetry collection Manhattan my ass, you're in Oakland won the American Book Award in 2021. She teaches writing at the University of California, Berkeley.

SHOWING UP

by Ed Ryterband

Tyre

 

Now I cannot turn my eyes

the pile up so monstrous.

Black bodies lumps of coal

shoveled in a furnace of indifference.

 

Now a land to deconstruct

terrain of my white privilege

unexamined legacy presumed

justice, access, possibility. 

 

Now I will concede

the wind’s been at my back

for years and centuries

no bondage, redlines, stop and frisk. 

 

Now I’ll steer into the maelstrom

air thickened with our certainties

clouds of righteous indignation

amplify the howling

 

Now I do proclaim

I’ll never know the pain of my Black neighbors.

I declare I do believe them.

I will show up for them. 

Ed Ryterband is a psychologist, has been a standup comic and is now a poet and memoirist. His poems have been published in Paterson Literary Review, Two River Times, US1 Worksheets. He has three collections of poems published by Kelsay Books: Life On Cloud Eight (2019); Beyond Cloud Eight (2020); Rain Witness (2022). He’s working on a fourth collection Equanimity and a memoir about his immigrant parents Who They Were.

LOOKING FOR ANSWERS ON CHATGPT

by Ann E. Wallace

Tell me about Tyre Nichols.
 
I don’t have any information
about Tyre Nichols as a person 
or a notable public figure.
 
Can you provide more context 
or details about who Tyre is 
or what you’re looking for?
 
Tell me about Tyre’s life.
 
Skateboarding appeals to young men
for several reasons:
     Independence
     Creativity
     Community
     Adventure
     Freedom
 
Skateboarding provides 
a sense of freedom. 
 
Tell me more.
 
Photographing sights of beauty within the city can be
a creative and rewarding hobby for young men.
 
Here are some reasons why:
     Creative outlet
     Exploration
     Documentary
     Social engagement
     Personal growth
 
Photography can help young men 
develop new perspectives, as they learn 
to see the world through a lens 
and express themselves.
 
Tell me about Tyre’s pain.
 
Crohn’s disease 
is a type of inflammatory bowel 
disease.
 
Symptoms include: 
     Pain
     Rectal bleeding
     Weight loss
     Fatigue.
 
Assault, such as being punched
or kicked, can cause intense physical pain,
further exacerbating these symptoms.
 
Tell me about his heart.
 
Parenting a 4-year can be both rewarding
and challenging. 
     Encourage independence.
     Foster creativity.
     Set boundaries. 
     Encourage physical activity. 
     Promote language development. 
     Use positive reinforcement. 
     Show affection.
     Be patient.
 
To help a 4-year old grieve
     Be honest
     Keep the memory alive
     Take care of yourself
 
To help a mother grieve
    Listen
    Respect her feelings
    Be patient

Tell me.
 
To help a nation heal
    Address the root causes
    Encourage reconciliation
    Foster
    Encourage
    Support
    Address
    Foster
    Encourage action
 
These steps are not exhaustive.
Process your emotions
Seek information
Take action
Stay informed
Practice Self Care.
 
Please tell me something about Tyre.
 
In Memphis, the sunsets in January 
are usually beautiful, 
a stunning display of warm
and vibrant colors.
 
The angle of the sun 
is lower in the sky,
which can result in longer
and more dramatic sunsets 
as the sun takes longer
to dip below the horizon.
 

Author’s note: I composed this poem by curating language from the AI platform ChatGPT's responses to a series of questions (not exclusively those in the poem) about Tyre Nichols. ChapGPT, an incredibly powerful artificial intelligence resource that has been touted as able to handle the most complex challenges, cannot begin to capture who Tyre Nichols was and what his life meant. It fails, just like humans so often do, to measure a life.

Ann E. Wallace is Poet Laureate of Jersey City, NJ, where she is an English Professor at New Jersey City University. Her work has appeared in The New Verse News, Huffington Post, Wordgathering, Gyroscope Review, and many other journals. Her published work is available online at AnnWallacePhD.com and on Instagram @annwallace409.

STREET CRIMES OPERATION TO RESTORE PEACE IN OUR NEIGHBORHOODS (SCORPION)

by John Whitney Steele

The predatory arachnids of the order,

Scorpiones, sit and wait for prey

to move, unknowing, into the ambush zone.

Once the prey has been detected 

they turn, run, and seize it. 

    If the prey

is perceived to be aggressive or active, 

they inject it with their venom.

Otherwise they simply hold and eat it.

The victim’s body parts are broken down,

liquified, and sucked into the scorpion’s 

stomach. 

The victim is gradually reduced

to a ball of indigestible 

material, 

which is cast aside.

John Whitney Steele is a psychologist, yoga teacher, assistant editor of Think: A Journal of Poetry, Fiction and Essays, and graduate of the MFA Poetry Program at Western Colorado University. His chapbook, The Stones Keep Watch, and his full length collection of poetry, Shiva’s Dance were recently published by Kelsay Books. John lives in Boulder, Colorado and enjoys hiking in the mountains.

"WORSE" THAN RODNEY KING?

by L. Smith

56 baton blows.
6 neck kicks.
5 white officers.
A broken leg. Multiple facial fractures. Bruises. Contusions. Laser gun burns.
Worse than Rodney King?
If only we could ask Rodney King—
King who was jumped with expert-level lack of restraint and professional lack of protocol by five white officers—Koon, Powell, Wind, Briseno, and Solano—
King who was jumped so well and so wildly, with his body writhing with each raging blow, that all semblance of protect and serve faded to black.
And, 32 years post “the-video-that-changed-everything-and-nothing,”
A new video we watch—we waited to watch, sat on edge for its release while it was advertised and hyped up like it was the big fight—a new
video we watch
to rank and to compare
two police beatings
32 years apart
of motorists. Unarmed black men.
King and Nichols, both jumped initiation style by blue-cloaked vigilantes
and folks are watching and analyzing blows like this is the big match up.
Ranking police beatings? 
Is this the pic-a-nic culture of the not too distant south?
 
Worse than Rodney King?
If only we could ask Rodney King—  
Here’s a thought:
Was disciplinary action against the
5 white officers who beat Rodney King
worse than the disciplinary action against the
5 black officers—Haley, Mills, Martin III, Smith, and Bean—who beat Nichols?
5 black officers swiftly dealt with—
dealt with in a way that’s worse than
5 white officers who beat Rodney King—
5 black officers swiftly fired for excessive use of force,
Failing to intervene and
failing to render aid.
 
32 years ago, we had
5 indictments.
5 acquittals.
3 days of violence.
60 people killed.
Thousands injured.
Millions of dollars of property destroyed.
32 years post “the-video-that-changed-everything-and-nothing” we again have
1 unarmed black man
1 traffic stop
5 officers
1 brutal beating
1 unarmed motorist who was not so lucky.
“Rodney King was lucky.”
Was he really, though?
56 baton blows?
6 neck kicks?
5 white officers?
A broken leg? Multiple facial fractures? Bruises? Contusions? Laser gun burns?
Constitutional rights violated is luck?
Assault times five is luck?
“Rodney King lived.”
Did he though?
32 years apart from each other, are
2 motorists—unarmed, black men
brutally beaten by
5 officers
while traffic-stopped and the world later watched
and ranked and forgot the
five white acquitted officers—Koon, Powell, Wind, Briseno, and Solano—who jumped Rodney King.
Worse than Rodney King?
If only you could focus on the right scales.

L. Smith, a New Orleans native, is a writer, multi-certified, English and master reading teacher, who has freelanced for local newspapers. She has an anthology of poems and prose set to publish spring 2023 that her mother and daughter created space for her to write. She also has begun this blog for writer teachers.

MURDER IN MEMPHIS

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.

WATCH THE VIDEO

by George Held

Screenshot of the video of the murder of Tyre Nichols.

For Rodney King

 

 

After Memphis, what more can we ask video

to do? After Tyre Nichols, what more

can it confirm? About barbarity,

good ol’ American barbarity? 

The Nazis had nothing on us when it

comes to barbarity. Just look at

the video and see those black men in

uniform dishing out murderous mayhem,

 

killing Tyre as surely as pink-cheeked

SS troopers brutally murdered an old Slav

or a Jew. Yes, these assassins, blond or black,

and legitimized by uniform, carry out

the will of the culture, brutalize the despised

while we, mute, wait to watch the video.

 

George Held occasionally contributes to The NVN and has poems now in Ultimate Reality and Jerry Jazz Magazine.