Hate Crime
Cypresses whisper – sentinels of a solemn graveyard and a young
mourner.
Memories hum – a cherished name
uttered in a broken whisper;
a mind brimming with memories – a timid glance;
a boy reaching for a boy's hand;
the thrill of lips grazing a stubbly chin.
But the gentle remembrance is now smeared with words of hate.
The gravestone fades into a pavement drenched in blood –
a young life stolen by murky ignorance and malicious intolerance.
The mourner's frame quiver with a sudden gust of anger.
The sentinels sway in response – branches compose a lament.
The wind is dense with the echoes of vows exchanged:
I will never hide my heart behind spiteful despair;
my voice will not vanish before injustice;
but my soul will stay merciful.
The young mourner bows his head, and promises anew.
Petra F. Bagnardi is a TV screenwriter, a theater playwright and actress, and a poet. She was short-listed in the Enfield Poets' Twentieth Anniversary Poetry Competition, and her work was featured in Masque & Spectacle Literary Journal, Punk Noir Magazine, Trouvaille Review, Black Poppy Review, and Call Me [Progress] the sixth Issue of the literary journal, Call Me [Brackets].
Writing as Petra March, she won several awards and honours. She is also a Library Journal Self-e Select author.
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