A Mile In Your Shoes

Oh to walk a mile in your shoes 

Something we’ve never had to do 

Seldom will we acknowledge what you’ve done 

Unless there is something to be won 

What is it like to walk a mile in your shoes? 

What have you been through

For years we’ve watched from afar 

Imagining the what it feels like to be who you are 

Insulated from the pain 

Shielded from the disdain 

We have no idea what you’ve been through 

I can’t walk a mile in your shoes 

That’s something I’ll never be able to do

But I know I must stand 

I know I must march 

And do whatever I’m needed to do

Having stood on unequal ground for far to long 

Merely writing a poem feels kind of wrong 

When there is just so much more that I have to do 

How many miles have you walked in those shoes

Faced with years of oppression 

From every direction 

What more do we have to put you through

Stolen from your land by the hand of some man 

Who thinks his skin makes him better than you 

There are a lot of things we need to redo 

I’m sorry you’ve had to walk in those shoes 

The violence seems endless 

How can you kill someone defenseless 

What did they ever do 

Remember the names of these few 

George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Philando Castile, Breonna Taylor. 

There’s nothing we can undue  

It’s my turn to walk a mile in your shoes