Faye Turner-Johnson

JUST SHOOT 'EM

shoot ‘em while they’re running
shoot ‘em while they’re reaching for registration and insurance
shoot ‘em when they’re holding a cell phone
pleading for help after an accident in the middle of the night
shoot ‘em if their tail lights are broken
shoot ‘em while they’re sitting on their own couch
eating ice cream when you thought it was your couch in your
apartment and your ice cream they were eating
shoot ‘em if they don’t signal when changing lanes
shoot ‘em if they’re at home with the door open
playing video games with a nephew
just shoot ‘em
shoot ‘em dead
shoot ‘em while living black...seeking justice and freedom in America


Faye reads "Just Shoot 'Em":



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Faye confesses: "I am deeply troubled by police officers killing unarmed black people. If officers are able to capture and arrest mass murders with assault weapons, why fear a cell phone? The murders of Botham Jean and Atatiana Jefferson have me wondering how safe it is to live in my own home?"

FAYE TURNER-JOHNSON is a graduate of UM-Flint with BA degrees in Theater and Elementary Education. Since her retirement from teaching, she has again turned her attention to theater and writing. Her desire is to direct plays and write about issues focusing on social justice, especially where it concerns brown and black people. Her work has appeared in Sky Island Journal, Whirlwind Magazine, Digital Papercut, Crack the Spine Literary Journal, and other publications. Work was also published in anthologies for Dime Show Review and Kissing Dynamite. She received an honorable mention for a poem submitted to the Rochester Writers' 2018 Summer Writing Contest.