I Am Oscar Grant...

I was challenged to write lines, starting with "I am Oscar Grant..." and adding to it every time a video we were watching paused or was interrupted. This is what I got:

I am
Oscar Grant, like
I am,
Liberty Bell cracks,
Like Sean Bell
Clack-clacks,
Ringing in hollowed ear drums
I am Oscar Grant, like
I am hallowed drums
Beating rhythms of life
Into the sunken
Sullen sobs of pops and mom’s
I am
Oscar Grant, like
I am Derrik Jones,
Like I am Malcom and Martin
I am Kendra James
I am Tyisha Miller
I am the millions of quiet voices going violent into the night
Violet and crimson into the earth
Quiet like my birth meant nothing
Like my purpose was to die
Like my purpose was to fight
Like my purpose was to ignite
To burn, to glow, to cause growth
I am Oscar Grant
Like I am the tears
In left behind baby eyes
Like the fluidity in the streets
Hot and liquid
Like I am
The fluidity of movement
Catalyst
Like I am,
The poem, the dance
The song, the chant
You are, as I am,
I am
Oscar Grant.

Johnathen Duran
3:27 pm, November 10th, 2010