The man who killed me got out of prison this week

//The man who killed me got out of prison this week

The man who killed me got out of prison this week

By Marissa Glover

I do not dream of winning
the Heisman Trophy, of going pro
after a standout junior year,
of one day being inducted
in the NFL Hall of Fame.

I do not dream of breaking records
or wearing rings or signing contracts
with Nike and Gatorade. I do not
dream of retiring to the ESPN booth
to offer commentary on Monday nights.

I do not dream of Hail Mary catches
of beating defenders, of dancing in the end
zone after a touchdown. I do not dream
of kneeling for the anthem or standing
for the flag or protesting the police.

I do not dream of justice—there is no justice
to be had. There is only earth and sky
and moms who raise their grandsons
and moms who die from four bullets
to the belly.

I do not dream of who my son will be
when he grows up, where he will go
to college, if he will play the game
his father loved. I do not dream.

 


Marissa Glover teaches and writes in the United States, where she spends most of her time sweating. Currently the Co-Editor for Orange Blossom Review and the Poetry Editor at Barren Press, Marissa was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize by The Lascaux Review for her poem “Some Things Are Decided Before You Are Born.” Her poetry has also appeared in Stoneboat Literary JournalAfter the PauseGyroscope ReviewWar, Literature & the Arts, and New Verse News, among others. You can follow Marissa on Twitter @_MarissaGlover_.

Photo by eberhard grossgasteiger on Unsplash.

By | 2019-03-27T21:22:08-07:00 April 4th, 2019|Categories: Issue 84: 04 April 2019|Tags: , |1 Comment

One Comment

  1. Sarah Ito 2019-04-04 at 8:28 am

    Profoundly sadly true. Nice writing!

Share your thoughts about this.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.