Awakened by the Silence

The howling of the wind 

The silence of the road

I am awakened by the silence

Death down every alley

Misery on every corner.

Are we still winning?

From the Golden Gate city, California 

To Bangor, Maine 

Honolulu, Hawaii, to Genoa, Alaska 

To everywhere in America

In God we trust, still

Still we die in COVID-19 

Silence, silence the hunters are here

Rounding the corner, 

Buttoned down in rage

Decorated with a mandate to fire

To maime, to kill

They shoot, you die

They shout 

Stop, don’t move

Hands up

Head down

Surrender your hands 

Your dignity

Leave it behind

Submit, submit, or die.

You reach for documents,

You calm your wife, 

Your child in the backseat 

You speak

You sneeze

You think

You look

You run,

You sleep in your car?

You sleep at home

A threat is what you are

You are still breathing

Bang, bang, suckers, you die.

The broken mother,

Grieving sister, 

Helpless brother, 

The burning father

He, they die with you, 

They weep

Are we not human?

Why, my country, why?

Hey, hey Philando 

Hey, hey Ahmaud,

Hey, hey George,

Hey, hey Rayshard,

Hey, hey Breonna,

I hear you, I see you.

Hey, hey my country

Can you say their name?

The road is eerily silent 

In God we trust, still

Still those “others,” 

They are put down for cause 

Unjust, unfounded

Silence is shattered 

Sirens flood the avenues, 

The roundabouts 

Dead Americans in makeshift morgues, 

Refrigerated trucks,

Lined with our next-of-kin,

Yours and mine

Discarded face masks kicked up by the wind

They swirl off the 18-wheelers frames

As if to wave the frozen dead goodbye,

The chill of death, 

Raging from New York to Texas

Arizona to Georgia,

Florida to California

Ohio to New Jersey

No one to warn the cavalry 

All the Paul Reveres have been muted 

Sidelined or sedated

But for an old man

A medicine man called Fauci

His brand, his name, his will

Unbreakable, unshakable 

We love you, Tony.

Gun fire explodes again

Another black man, woman, child

Dead, dead, dead.

A man whispers into a woman’s ear

“Those others,”

If they would only comply!”

The trucks thunder in the distance

Howling wind sweeps in again

Silence follows 

I am awakened by the silence. 

Dr. Azzam Elayan 

July 17, 2020