by Shawn Block, Western Illinois Correctional Center
Face the face of Emmett Till ‘til justice finds him whole.
Face the wounds that haunt us still, still restless in his soul.
The balooned orbs where cheeks should be,
the bludgeoned smile that we can’t see.
Look upon the gruesome marks of Jim Crow’s heavy toll.
Peer into the casket, gasp at evil’s wicked hand.
Peer into the past at unmasked inhumanity of man.
The mangled form that was a boy,
the equal rights they can’t destroy.
Look upon the face that caused the world to take a stand.
His mother bade us look, just look and let the whole world see.
She showed us what they took, they showed their insecurity.
The stolen youth based on a lie,
the face of truth that cannot die.
Look upon the face of one who’s finally been set free.
Embrace him in his loneliness who dies a martyr’s death.
Embrace his endless liveliness for we are now his breath.
The struggle that has yet been won,
the victory we must give her son.
Look upon the face of all the work that we have left.
Poem courtesy of Shawn Block and Castaway Management Group, LLC.
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