Poet’s Note: This poem was inspired by the the artwork of Johnalynn Holland, particularly the piece included in the July 3, 2020 Washington Post article, “Nine Black Artists Reflect on the Question: Is America at a point of reckoning?”
Lavinia Kumar’s immediate and extended family is a mixed bunch, but none have suffered as Black Americans have. However, because of incidents in shops, by town employees, by police, and so forth, her family is well aware of how it feels to be targeted. The art of Johnalynn Holland caught her eye and stuck in her brain because of the sheer brutality of the now and the past it so beautifully portrays.