A Nine-Minute Film That Was Perfectly Acted Upon a Script Written by Stephen King and His Likes

Photo: Kushagra Kevat

for George Floyd

at first, we were all just humans: flesh and blood and bone

until / stupidity sprouted in the hearts

of some men, like an abandoned flower climbing up a fence.

it’s the worst blasphemy to think / the thorns in the bones

of a blue-eyed man

weigh more than the man who searches in vain, a sip of oxygen

under satan’s rusty knee / george died many times

before dashing a thorny goodbye at the exit door of earth—

his lung, filled with unendurable pain / his vein,

choked with hungry fire.

fact:

somewhere, a black skin is on its way to be laid down in cold blood.

since george stopped breathing / the television has been

fighting to / (re)adjust its screen / and advertise the 2020 version

of casualty / that won’t fit, no matter what.

and the rainbow has lost its beauty / and sweet scent / since

the world watched a nine-minute film that was perfectly

acted / upon a bloody script / written by stephen king and his likes.

About the author

Abuoya Eruot writes from Paynesville, Liberia. He’s a budding poet and a worshipper of music, who gathers muse from personal experiences, happenings in society, and nature. His works have been published in African Writer, Praxis Magazine, Eboquills, Odd Magazine, and elsewhere.