13, a deadly age

He was a boy.

not a criminal

not a monster

but a boy.

Tyre King.

A boy shot down

a black "suspect"

who didn't deserve life

or so the whites say.

She was a girl

(it seems so long ago now).

Not a slut

Not a woman

but a girl.

Maryann Measles.

A girl raped and wrapped in chains

dumped like litter

into a river

who didn't deserve life

or so the rich say.

They'll always make an excuse

defend their own "respectable" people

who terrorize.

Content

while the rest of us

scream in showers

and grow up without sisters.