I see how people today are treating each other

Back in my day I heard a lot of racist jokes

They’d hate together but it didn’t hurt forever

I grew tired of those racist folks

You don’t understand what it’s like to a have a whole town surround you trying to drown you

Some residents said the case was overblown

My see it had racial overtones

Hating me because my dad defended a black man

In court and that began a back and forth until they sent the man to prison and his life was cut short he got shot with many bullets one of every single sort and my family and the whole racial community took it dreadfully it hurt to see him burnt in the dirt in a prison shirt and I ask myself today what were those guards worth those memories have a special place secured I hear racial slurs and wish that it was cured but their thoughts have been obscured and I wish that they would mature

But now it’s been confirmed that they will never learn

That it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird

It's a sin to kill a mockingbird

My mama died when I was two and no one consoled me

I got in fights at school and no one controlled me

It felt like that man had frozen the earth

He tried to murder me 8 years after my birth

Because he was too weak to go at my dad directly

I remember that man he was anything but friendly

He was a drunk he couldn’t even talk coherently

Now I don’t think you’re hearing me

It was like something out of a cartoon

The only thing that saved my life was a costume

First things first

He would drink until his vision would blur and his vocals were slurred and everything he heard sounded reversed and he immersed himself in a curse to become the worst until he versed and got dispersed under a tree and stopped his venting spree by a friend of my named Boo Radley

I know what you heard

But it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird

Every now and then I glance over at that house

I’ve long since graduated and married my spouse

I think about that night with the knife he was kind of like a Knight we didn’t have to fight but in spite, he had proved he knew what was right and we approved he’s long been removed from the equation I always wanted to thank him

Or maybe write a hymn about him

But he never wanted attention or to be mentioned

In case he got threatened but he was a legend

I miss him so much come back

Arthur, please come back

I can’t get my train of thought to stay on track

Know that he died alone and unknown irks my bones feeling depressed at the request to place stones

I never even told my kids about that nightmare

I know he’s out there somewhere

I wrote this from my wheelchair doing a crossword

Knowing that I never told a soul about that introvert