For Aiyana Mo'Nay Stanley-Jones: An American Tragedy

By: Tony L. Jefferson, Jr.

This little girl haunts me

She makes me fear for my own seed

That innocence can die in the young years

Before they even develop their own fears

A fleeting instant

A quick last breath

A soul long gone from its young vessel

Americas bloodlust has extended to the youth

Poisoning them and killing them in one big swoop

I wish I could take on that pain you must’ve felt

In those few last seconds, you had left

I’ve never met you but I love you

I wish I could’ve protected you

Or at least held you in your last hour

A parent should never have to bury their child

Especially when the government was too trigger happy to care

To check if they even had the right house

Or see that a child was sleeping on the couch

Black Lives Matter

But it seems selective

Fleeting even

Because before we get used to the first hashtag on Twitter

We’re bombarded with 20 more

Desensitizing us to more

But you little girl

You stick with me

And will stick with me

All the days of my life

RIP Aiyana Mo'Nay Stanley-Jones

July 20, 2002 – May 16, 2010