Instanter
Though grist spoils in the hopper
yesterday found file-foldered
the arrest warrant
for who in Money Mississippi
murdered Emmet Till
August of 1955
Serve it “Instanter” it reads
“To the Sheriff of Said County”
under the blue seal
on a white sheet
of the Circuit Court
County of LeFlore
Land of bruises
hear the palm trees slap
Spanish moss drips
From live oak
dissolve
no Black boy
from remembrance
I’m stitching rice flowers on cotton
The needle lopes and sticks
a running stitch of indigo
thread that blues my thumbs
dyes my lips
River Heron Review (August 2023)
