For Maurice A. Richards, 11 years
old.
From East St. Louis. Killed, March 9,
2016
“In the future, these are
to be a sign among you.
When your
children ask you, ‘What do
these stones mean to you?’”
--Joshua 4:6
From the
river bring six
stones and set them in the place
where he was
found
let
the old
women find
their heart-cry and lament
his finding
the old men shall break
branches
from the trees and cushion
his
body with the new green leaves
do not bring
the children
not one
until
all is prepared
then say
to all
assembled Bring the sacrifice
Let each one
caress the stones with
cold
hands and bleeding eyes
It is
Our heart
that has been left to die
Our
dream that was crushed by
the machine
that the darkness shields
Write his
name
In sorrow
write his
name
on these and every
stone
for all to
see
because he
was never
seen until
too
late
for us to
know
how our darkness
condemns us
if we do this
we were told
your hearts will
live
again and gain time
to learn
to see
before
another
sacrifice
is found
16 March
2016
[Maurice A.
Richards, age 11, was struck by a hit-and-run driver, during the night of
Wednesday, March 9, 2016, near the site of Post Place and State Street, in East
St. Louis, Illinois. After he was struck he lay in the street, while traffic
drove past him, until two motorists stopped. Ms. Willie Beard, one of the
motorists who stopped, said that when she saw the driver in front of her stop
suddenly, “she saw him go over to something in the road and then heard him
scream: “’This is a baby! This is a baby!’”
Ms. Beard and the first driver stayed with Maurice Richards, holding
him, until he was transported to Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St.
Louis. Maurice Richards died an hour after he was admitted to the hospital.
(From the story in The St. Louis
Post-Dispatch, March 11, 2016, A1.)]
