This poem has been brewing for the last several days. It’s posted below in two versions …

Everybody But

It runs 8 minutes and 46 seconds—
and the last 400 years—give or take,
but as that video played around the globe,

pretty soon its reach rivaled a pandemic;
unleashing protests and riots and all out uprisings;
and the blood that was spilled on the pavement

beneath his face, now that blood cries
out for justice and can be heard
echoing in streets and memorialized by many;
hell, that video took “Defund the Police” public;

still, as he lay there groaning, pleading for life,
did he even know “police abolition” was a thing?
now that video—the knee on his neck and him calling
for his Mama until his breath ran out—is breathing
new life once again into calls
for justice that he’ll never know;

destined to become a defining moment of our day,
it sure seems like that video
of an unknown man, now so well known,
must have been seen by almost everybody;
well, everybody but— 


*   *   *
David R. Weiss – June 19, 2020




Everybody But

It runs 8 minutes and 46 seconds—
and the last 400 years—give or take,
but as that video played around the globe,

pretty soon its reach rivaled a pandemic;
unleashing protests and riots and all out uprisings;
and the blood that was spilled on the pavement

beneath his face, now that blood cries
out for justice and can be heard
echoing in streets and memorialized by many;
hell, that video took “Defund the Police” public;

still, as he lay there groaning, pleading for life,
did he even know “police abolition” was a thing?
now that video—the knee on his neck and him calling
for his Mama until his breath ran out—is breathing
new life once again into calls
for justice that he’ll never know;

 destined to become a defining moment of our day,
 it sure seems like that video
of an unknown man, now so well known,
  must have been seen by almost everybody;
well, everybody but—



* * *
David R. Weiss – June 19, 2020

David Weiss is a theologian, writer, poet and hymnist, doing “public theology” around climate crisis, sexuality, justice, diversity, and peace. Reach him at drw59mn@gmail.com. Read more at www.davidrweiss.com where he blogs under the theme, “Full Frontal Faith: Erring on the Edge of Honest.” Support him in writing Community Supported Theology at www.patreon.com/fullfrontalfaith.