Lida Bushloper

TESTIMONY

When I called the cops,
I said he had a gun.
It wasn't true.
I thought it would make them hurry,
and it did.
When they asked for ID and he
reached into his back pocket
(where he kept his wallet, after all)
they thought he was going for a gun.
They killed him in that ol' "hail of bullets" you hear about.

I know I said he had a gun,
but it's not my fault
they believed me.


Sarah Stockton reads "Testimony":



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Lida confesses: "I had a cousin who was killed by police. I’m struck when people are either unaware or in denial about their own agency in events. As King Henry II found when he said 'Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?' Words, whether intentional or thoughtless, have consequences."

LIDA BUSHLOPER writes short mysteries and poetry. Her work has appeared in The Lyric, The Formalist, Kings River Life, Mysterical-E, and Flash Bang Mysteries. Visit her website at http://lidabushloper.wordpress.com.