Now I Lay Me Down

This is what's on my mind. This is what has been screaming at me all day. This is what I will share with everyone I know. This is the voice inside me that prays every time I am stopped by the police, or sheriffs, or highway patrol...

Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
If I should die on the side of a road –
Killed by a law enforcement officer because:
No one ever taught him to
Respect me as he does his brother,
To see me as a member of his church,
To understand that I’ve never been to jail,
To see in my eyes my innate intelligence,
He does not live in my neighborhood,
He cannot dream of protecting me
While being trained to fear me,
The system he is sworn to uphold considered
My ancestors to be 3/5ths of a man,
He was taught by his parents and friends
And coaches and preachers and politicians...
That I am lazy -
That I cannot be trusted -
That I cannot be educated -
That I can never rise above my circumstances -
That I am dangerous ...
I pray someone will use their smartphone
To stream a recording of the last moments of my life
At the hands of a man who does not know me,
But hates me, and because the badge he wears
Allows him to murder me if my taillight is broken.