THE SENTENCING OF MICHAEL SLAGER

by Harold Oberman


Judy Scott holds a photo of her son Walter Scott on Thursday after Michael Slager, a former police officer who shot and killed Mr. Scott in 2015 after a traffic stop, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for violating Mr. Scott’s civil rights. Credit: Credit Randall Hill/Reuters via The New York Times, December 7, 2017


I went to middle school with him,
Walter Scott.  He was a year behind
And, as to his details, I don't remember.
I just don't remember.

I pulled out an old Annual after the shooting.
Wallace Middle School.  New Horizons. 1979.
My parents sent me there against the advice of their peers.
"Violence," they said, "had happened,"
The past year.  Middle school violence
In the Seventies.  A big brawl, perhaps a stabbing
At the most.  So antique.

38 years later, Walter Scott’s shot in the back.
The cop got 20 years.
Violence does not have a half-life
That diminishes over time
Or a blood-red glow that grows dimmer,
Though we wish it did.

He wears a large-collared shirt in the Annual.
I can't tell its colors.
The photos, back then, were all black and white.




Harold Oberman is a lawyer working and writing in Charleston, SC. His first poem was published in middle school and, subsequently, he has had his work published in

Related Posts :

  • MARSby David Feela isn’t ours but what if as our InSight touched down,  shaking pink dust  off its gadgets a robot camera whirred … Read More...
  • WEIGHTLESSby Sally Zakariya On November 16, 2018 the redefinition of the kilogram (as explained above) was approved at the general confrence on weigh… Read More...
  • THE CRISPR TWINSby Albert Burgesser Everyone saw it coming, my friend, the Boomer, Gen X, and Millennial.
 But what better way to ring in the end … Read More...
  • CAMP FIREby Sydney Doyle “That to the heighth of this great argument I may assert eternal providence, and justify the ways of God to men.” —John … Read More...
  • REASONS FOR WATCHING FOX NEWSby Max Gutmann to the tune of "My Favorite Things" Gawking at lovely harassable females, Daily reminders of Hillary's emails, Colorful t… Read More...

0 Response to "THE SENTENCING OF MICHAEL SLAGER"

Posting Komentar