Dear Policemen: Call Me God

“Jury decides on death for the D.C. sniper.” – The Michigan Daily

When America found out god was black
we got up off our knees and mowed our lawns.
we even filled our gas tanks in broad daylight.

All the profilers said no one could’ve guessed
that a lone white male was two brown-skinned Muslims—
It had never happened before.

Except that wasn’t quite true—
Muhammad and Malvo were just more adjectives
for that place on a body where
you can leave a bruise and no one will find it.

Not that we cared about more
ways of saying the same things.
not that we cared about four fathers, three
mothers, one brother, one
husband, and one son,
it’s not like they were ours.