—
My Hands are up, please don’t shoot!
You see the fear in my eyes?
My hands are up, but I didn’t loot
Are YOU the criminal in disguise?
Jay-walking was my only crime
In a hurry to cross the street
Now I’m doin’ prison time
(After I was physically beat)
My hands are up, please don’t shoot!
They got it all on video
I’m a lover not a fighter
That’s why they call me Romeo
You assume that I did wrong
Which one of us is bad?
I never even hurt nobody
So why do you look so Mad?
My hands are up, please don’t shoot!
I got a wife and kids
Highlight on the evening news
Freedom goes to the highest bid
—
This poem was originally published in Brian Crandall’s book Empathy Globally: Painful Portraits of People – In Poetry (c 08/2014) and is republished here with his permission.
—
—
Photo credit: Getty Images