quotes from The Greenville News, New York Daily, and CNN 
Martheaus Perkins

George Stinney, Who Killed Two Little Girls, Dies Calmly. . .  
fourteen-year-old negro boy . . . youngest ever executed within South Carolina…
Bible under his arm . . . Guards had difficulty strapping the boy’s slight forth 
into position in the wooden chair . . . no comment. 
   Howl, Momma. . . Scream. . . incoherent 
   Scream. . . your boys’ names. . . 
   Aime. . . scream. . . for George  
   your scrawny, smiling boy. . . with a. . . persimmon. . .breath.
   On his way to join the search party. . . 
   Inhale his scorched. . . skin. . . from the sky. . . 
   Before. . . you blame yourself. . . for leaving. . . 
   croon to guilt. . . that crooked nowhere. . . 

White gang chases black to his death . . .  
white thugs wielding baseball bats . . .  
bruised body found at 1:03 a.m. . . . 
“Come here, nigger, come here. . . nigger . . .  
There’s niggers in the pizza parlor. Let’s go kill em, boys” . . .  
A mother weeps in Brooklyn. . .“He said we would all be happy!”     
   Weep, . . .Miss Jean, speak. . . for Brooklyn. 
   Harmonize. . . with. . .  
   Harlem. . . then. . . 
   Houston. . . Memphis. . . Sanford  
   L.A. . . Baltimore. . . Weep… 
   about. . . Micheal’s construction job. . .  
   building up. . . Here’s a picture. . .  
   Show us. . .how handsome. . .Why—why my boy?  
   Creep . . . into the stories. . . like coaldust . . .  

Video shows Tyre Nichols calling for mother . . .  
beaten by officers now charged in his death . . . video  
released by city . . . medics arrive minutes after officers disengage...
left on the pavement . . . a traffic stop. . . 
“I’m just trying to go home.” 
  Miss Nichols. . .cut. . . caution tape 
   . . . be scared. . . but keep howling. . . Tyre. . . 
   They thrive. . . when hymns. . . are whispered 
   . . . Hold your weight. . . still. . . on the front porch. . .  
   six-hundred and ten baby steps away, your son dies. . .  
   a familiar. . . shade. . . He wails for you. . . 
   Holler back. . . howl your tongue dry… reach him. . . try

Martheaus Perkins is pursuing an MFA at George Mason University and co-editor of BRAWL. His work has appeared in West Trade Review, PRISM International, Obsidian, and Longleaf Review, and elsewhere. He is an emerging Black writer currently dealing with an obsession with hot foods and excessively long YouTube videos. He can be found on Instagram and X @martheaus.