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We are the first Black-owned poetry library in the state of California. We aim to engage with the South L.A. community by offering a space to read, write, study, perform, and appreciate poetry.

[Poem-a-Week]The Kids Won’t Know What the Police Sirens Sound Like by free

Nov 8, 2023

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published

The kids won’t know what
the police sirens sound like.
they will live to see the mountains 
flourish and grow taller

the Wind will forgive us and 
plant seeds in the cracks of 
our cell walls

the kids won’t know what 
the police sirens sound like 
when they cry, we will greet them with
hugs we desperately needed
humans in arms 
holding with care. We will ask,
what do you need? 
And no one will be there to respond with more violence

No one is punished. There,
the kids will live
the Wind will be forgiving
the kids will be alive and
We are still living

the kids won’t know 
what the police sirens sound like
but we will keep an ear out for them,
just in case,
and only the 
forgiving Wind
will respond


Enjoyed this poem? Check out free's substack, where this piece was originally published: embodying free

**free** is a proud native of Newark, NJ, a Haitian-American, student of abolition and a poet at heart. free is passionate about uncovering their own personal movement towards embodiment and liberation within their Black body, as well as supporting movements within Black communities. free is a resting being who occasionally believes in their own magic, and the magic within everyone around them. When they are not imagining fantastical futures with friends, free enjoys napping and losing at game nights.

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