Lament for Tyre Nichols

Abstract

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

• Lament for Tyre Nichols
• James E Cherry (bio)

I heard a Black man cryfor his mother today. Another Black man.Just an ordinary day. Listen.

At the corner of Castlegate & Bear Creekit's the same slave block howlafter the auctioneer's gavel, southern shrieks

from rope and gasoline, one long moanexiting Cup Foods, rolling downChicago Avenue South.

Its echo will undoubtably followand find you next door to yourselfor if you have lost your way

home, will demand to knowhow many lynchings does it taketo save my life or that of your own?

How does a Black mother forgiveherself for delivering a Black babyboy to the altar of America

except she pluck a handful of sunsetfrom the Memphis horizon, hold onuntil a light gives birth to itself? [End Page 78]

James E Cherry

JAMES E CHERRY is a poet, fiction writer, professor, literary activist, and impresario. He is the author of four books of poetry, two novels, and a collection of short fiction. His latest novel, Edge of the Wind, was re-issued in 2022 from Stephen F. Austin University Press. His latest collection of poetry, Between Chance and Mercy, is forthcoming from Willow Books. He has been nominated for an NAACP Image Award, a Lillian Smith Book Award, and a Next Generation Indie Book Award. His writing has been published in journals and anthologies both in the U.S. and internationally. Cherry has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Texas at El Paso and resides in Tennessee with his wife, Tammy.

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