For Ahmaud Arbery

Yesterday
I watched
a man be lynched 
with no noose.
I watched the video
25.
Times.
On loop.
I know…
Karen and Todd need proof,
Hardy Boys and Nancy Drews -
they all become sleuths,
trying to find a point to dispute,
never once questioning 
"Why did they have to shoot?"

He was running,
like I do,
probably stretched to get loose,
not knowing 3 white men would
stretch the truth,
accuse him of burglarizing an under construction home,
with an unfinished roof,
“Citizens Arrest” the coded term and excuse,
for why his life was reduced
to a flurry of bullets.
When your finger is on the trigger and you pull it
When you end an unarmed man
living his life to the fullest
because his skin is brown...
When you end a man
because his skin is brown...
When you end him
because his skin is brown...
When you end us
Because our skin is brown...

Do you ever stop to think,
that’s why we run?
-kco.