Lamentations

For all those not named

Amadou. How doth the city sit solitary that was full of people! How are the wives become widows, the mothers made childless!¹

Bernard. How is the gold become dim, the finest hour changed; how are the bridal garlands scattered at the feet of mourners!²

DeAunta. The noble sons that were clothed with favor: how are they esteemed as earthen vessels, to be spilled upon the land!³

Ervin. For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, the nation hath shed the blood of innocents.⁴

Henry. Child and old man alike lie without on the ground; the young men are fallen, slain in the day of wrath; daughters weep; mothers tear their hair in sorrow.⁵

Jimmell. They that were fed delicately are desolate in the streets; they that were brought up in glory embrace the ashes.⁶

Jonny. Shall the women eat their own fruit, their children of a span long? Shall the just and the innocent be slain in the name of the law?⁷

Kendrec. I have been made an outcast, refuse in the midst of the people; my heart is turned within me, for I am full of bitterness.⁸

Kiwane. My bright face is made blacker than coals, that I am not known in the streets; my skin is a fearful emblem, that none may recognize me.⁹

’Lonzo. The enemy hath turned aside my paths, and hath broken me in pieces; he hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for his arrows.¹⁰

Mark. My persecutors have chased me and caught me like a bird, without cause; they have cast me into a pit, and they have laid a stone over me.¹¹

Niles. They have turned all their fury, and all their thoughts against me; the streets echo with their reproach, and all their imaginations against me.¹²

Oscar. The enemy hath sent fire into my bones, and the bones of my brothers, yet he scorns us for burning; he hath set a net at our feet and yet maketh mock at our falling; he hath made our hearts desolate, our names notorious in the land.¹³Ousmane. Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the air; they rush down upon us as from the mountains; yet succor is hobbled, and justice is lame.¹⁴

Patrick. We toil in futility, and fetch our bread at the peril of our lives; we love our sons and daughters at the peril of our hearts.¹⁵

Ramarley. That we have seen, have our eyes been gouged; that we have spoken, have our tongues been cut; that we have stood up, have our backs been lashed.¹⁶

Sean. While we were yet standing, our eyes failed for our vain help; in our watching we have looked to a nation that could not save us.¹⁷

Steven. The fathers have sinned, and we have borne their iniquities; those who serve rule over us, those who protect fasten irons upon us.¹⁶

Travares. Our persecutors wander as blind men in the streets, they are defiled with blood; and when they cannot help walking in it, they only lift up their skirts.¹⁹

Trayvon. The nation hath grievously sinned, therefore are our cities in turmoil: all that honored us turn away, for they have seen our shame, yet we are not chastised.²⁰

Victor. Let us lift up our hearts and our hands; and let us open our hearts to open hearts, and our hands to open hands.²¹

Wendell. Let us search our ways, and seek, and return to righteousness.²²