What's His Name

 

Such dark visions that come to my head after so much time has flown by. It was far from home and did not affect my day.

But it would affect my life. It has affected my world.

His name was George Floyd and he died with a knee upon his neck. And the vision of such a death plays in my head like an ad flickering and flashing in peripheral sight. It infects my life.

Being scared of the blue is something to me that is new.

Not for George.

That day he fought with his fears clearly on display. He struggled with the reality that was his, and his kind, for a very long time.

He was laid upon the ground with a knee upon his neck. The struggle was real.

Just breathe.

Breath is not cheap. You can’t afford it this time. You can’t afford it this day. Breath is not free when forced to the ground; and there is that knee. That knee upon his neck.

He calls to his mother. She has always been there. Not this time. He wishes for his brothers. Come quick, but beware. Not this time.

There is a knee upon his neck.

The pavement with so many rocks that make it up- the only things to give him support that day. He never noticed the rocks before. There are so many. The road is made with so many tiny pieces. From a distance things look solid. Only up close, with careful inspection, can you see each little piece that makes it whole. Each piece is valuable. No, not George. He wasn’t allowed to make it whole.

George was not whole with a knee upon his neck.

The pavement grew less dark and the breath faded. There was a wooziness that was filling...all-consuming.

It was the darkness of his eyes closing that consumed him as he fought to breathe. His mind wandered and flashed. The Cuney homes and the skyline of Houston seen from the Third Ward flashed by.

Time in school flashed by.

Family dinners.

Doctor visits.

Riding the bus.

Crying a tear.

Laughing a laugh.

Sighing a sigh.

Breathing a breath.

His last.

His fade into darkness complete and he is gone.

George is gone with a knee upon his neck. No resuscitation. No Mama. No brother. No chance to live free. He died, but so much came to life the day the world learned his name...George Floyd.

Forever seen with a knee upon his neck.