My City is Silent Tonight

Today my city weeps for the young man
who was stabbed on the thirteenth floor of my project tenement
making his way down twelve flights of stairs
leaving blood drops of dreams

Every flight was prayer:

For his family
for his wife and kids
for all the victims that ever lived

My City

 is silent tonight
mourning the loss of another Black man

who had so much to live for

My city is never silent

but tonight there is no

heart beat

Another Hispanic man died tonight
and two more will die by the end of this week

Tonight my city sleeps

my city weeps
as another father is lost to another violent night…

My city is silent tonight.