George Floyd

The day they knelt
on your neck
I told my son about you
and he begged
for a go-back-in-time machine
while he held
his own neck
and asked
why
why
an echo
of so many
other voices
across the world
crying the same word
and I wonder
did you ask that too
at some point
during those eight minutes
and forty-eight seconds
or is the answer
one that you
wretchedly
already
knew.