The warrant for who lynched Emmett Till directed that arrests be carried out “Instanter,” and then went missing for 67 years. The currents in this poem are of steely outrage and of grief that underlies such outrage. A mostly-white person, I also imply the stain of shame. For, in 1955 lynching was still committed with impunity. Instanter testifies against that violence, that failure of justice, and against persistence of the same.

Raised in Minneapolis, a fourth generation on Positively 4th St., Deborah lived many years in Chicago, and is home in Colorado. Her poems are found, four with award recognition, in several journals based in the US and Europe. A graduate of Northwestern University, she has written widely on behalf of non-profit organizations at work in the US and Mexico. Deborah serves on the volunteer board of Tupelo Press. She is judge of the Cantor-Fischer Prizes, 2023. 

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