NEW RULE

*reference: dark like dirt but not like dirt

          when
          you are going to kill
          a person, you must first
          ^[black/brown]*         learn our names,
look us     in the eyes            & say them aloud.
                                  no more
                                  learning
our names after

                                  we're dead

This poem first appeared in The Offing Literary Magazine on May 20th, 2015. To view the poem as it originally appeared, visit the publication here.

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