Joseph Powell’s most recent poem to appear here was “Failure is a Bruise, Not a Tattoo” (January 2019).

See Joseph Powell perform this poem here:

The Exonerated Five
By Joseph Powell

when they see us
we hope they see
boys who were not yet ready
to become men

when they see us
we hope they see
that the color of our skin
is not,
nor ever will be,
a threat to them

when they see us
we hope they see
humanity
in the image of the God
they say they believe in
and not
the wolves in sheep’s clothing
they keep saying that we are

when they see us
we hope
they see
themselves
before
they turned our world
upside down

when they see us
we hope
they see
innocence
until proven guilty
which they never did

when they see us
we hope they see
that though
we may be broken
we
are still strong
and united
in
and by
that strength

when they see us
we
hope
they
see
five
men
who were once
boys
strangers
who are now
friends
friends
who are now
brothers

liberated
vindicated
exonerated

when they see us
we
hope
they
see

Antron McCray
Kevin Richardson
Raymond Santana
Yusef Salaam
Korey Wise

when they see us
we
hope
they
see
US