Last Night

Yesterday, he knew he was a man
by the cut of his suit
by the swagger in his gait
by the square line of his jaw
by the woman he loved
and by the children who bore his name.
But last night,
when he was stopped and pulled over,
when he was forced out of his car,
when he was tased for resisting an arrest
that had no merit or standing,
when they subdued him with knees in his back
and pressed his face to the ground,
as he gave his last breath,

he knew he was a black man.