Accoutered With Underutilized Ammunition

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POETRY FOR INCLUSION

If you meant to tase me then I implore your weapon to transmit jolts of infinite mercy that invites tranquility.

And

If you meant to shoot me then I implore your weapon to discharge bullets that provide validation to a dehisced vexed wound.

And

If you meant to place your genu on my listless collum then I implore your weapon to release oxygenated synovial fluid that coats my cyanotic vasculature.

And

If you meant to pepper spray me then I implore your weapon to deliver capsaicin that has paradoxical effects on my traumatized orbits.

And

If you meant for me to silence my first amendment larynx then I implore your weapon of invalidation to be disarmed by the divine whose spirit weeps unapologetically.

And

If you meant to justify the carnage of my fellow Black brothers and sisters with explicit bias then I implore your weapon of septic optic nerves to be repaired with the balm of shared humanity.

Dr Clark is clinical assistant professor at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine-Greenville and medical director & division chief for Adult Inpatient and Consult-Liaison Services for the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at Prisma Health-Upstate. He currently serves on the APA Task Force to Address Structural Racism Throughout Psychiatry as well as the Diversity & Inclusion Section Editor and Advisory Board member for Psychiatric Times^TM.