Say Their Names

You thought you had some time
Just enough to wait for it again
There was love that you could find
Might not be too late for it but when

Oh no, they took it too far
They took your life away
My friend
They’ll never know who you are
That you might have loved them
But then
They cut you

They told you not to speak
Told you not to move
Your hands
They thought that you were weak
But you carried more than any man

Oh no i see where you are
I see where you ought to be
And when
They killed you they killed themselves
Now let us live in your names
Layleen Polanco, Tony McDade, Monika Diamond, Serena Velázquez
Ramos, Dominique Fells, Yampi Méndez Arocho, Nina Pop, Layla Pelaez
Sánchez, Johanna Metzger, Alexa Negrón Luciano, Jayne Thompson, Dustin
Parker, Penélope Díaz Ramírez, Helle Jay O’Regan, Lexi, Selena Reyes-
Hernandez, Ríah Milton, Brayla Stone, Elizabeth Montaño, Mercy Mack,
Tatiana Hall, Bree Black, Shaki Peters, Luz Clarita Zúniga, Draya McCarty…

I see where you are
I see where you ought to be
My friend
When they killed you, they killed us all
Now let us live in your names
In all your names

You thought you had some time
Just enough to wait for it
Again
There was love that you could find
It will not be too late for it
But when