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      July 26, 2015Sandy SpeaksTiana Clark

      after Emily Dickinson

      Because I did not turn my signal on for Death—
       
      Sandy speaks to me
      beyond her grave
      her voice on YouTube—
      ricochets.
       
      He harshly stopped for me—
       
      The body is gone
      & the words remain
      she says,
      You can’t tell me God ain’t good.
      & I want to believe her
      but how did you die
      & when did the murdering start?
       
      The police car held but just Ourselves—
       
      So many questions
      you cannot answer
      & They will not answer
      but you testify in Death.
      She says again,
      You can’t tell me God ain’t good
      & I want to believe her.
      I am a black woman, too—
      I fasten my seatbelt—
      I check the speed limit—
      push the needle to hover
      just under 30 mph.
      I click the turn signal in my car
      & I say her name.
       
      And Immortality.

      from Poets Respond

      Tiana Clark

      “In a voicemail Sandra Bland left during her time in jail, in regards to her situation, she said she was “at a loss for words.” I have felt that speechlessness all week as I was processing how I felt about what happened, especially being a black woman in America. I found myself becoming anxious while driving in my car—wondering will I be next? People have been posting her YouTube videos from her channel, Sandy Speaks. I was especially taken with one video; in it she has just survived an accident where a motorcycle crashed into her car. In the video she repeats, “You can’t tell me God ain’t good,” over and over again. I started crying, as she was crying in the video. It felt like a release of my grief and I began to write this poem for her. Let us not forget, let us keep saying her name.”

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