Tyre Nichols- Heaven Awaits You Poem by Bernedita Rosinha Pinto

January 1st had passed taking Tyre Nichols footsteps
into the New year with a guarantee
that life ahead was everyone's opportunity
to love, to smile, to sing, to drive and to be happy.

But suddenly on January 7 at 8.30 pm Tyre Nichols
was pulled up for reckless driving at a junction close
to just three houses away from his mother's house;
if only had he made it home safely he would have still been here
smiling and enjoying his time on this earth.

But fate had a different story to tell
as there and then everything turned so merciless
that five police officers battered Tyre Nichols
without even a forethought of what will be
the consequences of punching and kicking
a helpless man who did nothing to defend himself
as they kept beating him.

But the five police officers designated to protect citizens showered blows even with their batons on a lone man
as if it was a school children's street fight
as these officers did not even care to assume their actions
were so gruesome that it would cause a loss of a valuable life.

And as they kept assaulting him while he lay helpless,
they never realized that they were snuffing the life out of him;
yes, it was not a movie or a trailer
but a real show of might and power
as the five police officers kept imposing kicks and punches
so repeatedly on a helpless man called Tyre Nichols.

How could they feel so empowered to beat a black man
when they themselves were of the same race and fraternity?
How could they not show any pity to him
that as Tyre kept struggling to survive their torture,
those five police officers were so apathetic?

How could fate be so merciless altogether that night
as none came to Tyre's rescue or to help him out
of that unfortunate episode?

Was it fair for life and time to decide such an end for Tyre?
Was it fair for five police officers to assign a tragic end
to Nichols when he was all alone as they attacked him?

And as he was going down in pain in that hospital bed,
God must have waited with open arms for him
on the other side to help him enter the place called heaven
where no more police officers could ever beat him again
and where no one could ever stop a black man
from attaining eternal rest and the divine peace he deserves.