Dead Poet

Renee Nicole Good was shot to death today in Minneapolis by ICE. This quickly written poem is for her, and some subtle changes made a few hours later.

  

  

   dirty crimson winter

poet takes an icy lane

   more slippery than most

   greybound skies soon splinter

with the echoes of her pain

   the screaming of her ghost

   we could only watch this

many miles from where she lay

   and bled upon the snow

   shocked by murder's cold kiss

there was nothing I could say

   and nowhere I could go

   she was less than forty

less than half of all my years

   with so much life ahead

   then the icy sortie

shed her final bloody tears

   and left a poet dead

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01/09/25 12:29 a.m. 

Renee, I have made some subtle changes I think you would like. Rest in peace, sweet child.

Author's Note

Renee Nicole Good was killed yesterday by an ICE agent in Minneapolis. I had to write something, and quickly wrote a piece in memory of this young award winning poet. She was one of us and was murdered in broad daylight, on video, simply because the killer knew he could get away with it as the arm of Donald Trump, who said later the agent had total immunity. I hope some of you can please give her more than this one poem.

Reviews

[Emunah June.]

First of all, there is nothing "bad" about this poem. I dont think you could write a bad poem even if you tried, its just not part of who you are or the talent you possess.

Secondly, this poem does exactly what I think it was meant to do: be a testament to the current stare of the USA. We are divided, broken, bloodied and violent. We takes extremes beyond measure and run with it like ribbon. We've taken our pound of flesh and then some. We are a sick, greedy, serpentine population. Things like love, poetry, and living are being snuffed out like they were with this woman, and it is nothing short of purebred tragedy. I think you taking the time to write something about this, about her, was both touching and necessary, and I thank you for blessing the site with this piece.

The poem itself has a soft, somber rhythm that does well for its funeral-esque approach. It mourns without being redundant, and the prose is just in time with itself. All inall, a piece I thoroughly enjoyed as well as noted how important it is. Well done, as per usual.

[FlatDaddy]

Emmy, thank you. I wrote this almost in a rush after several false starts. It is an odd sequence and a stumbly, awkward rhythm that seems crude, but i didn't want it to look or feel slick. I am so glad you like it.

[FlatDaddy]

Well, E, I couldn't help but tinker with it just a bit. Some subtle changes made to verses five and six, and the fourth verse has a few things more that needed changing. Okay, I feel better now!

[Chris]

She died HARD for her beliefs, but nobody talks about what her beliefs were, even now. Neither protestors nor I.C.E. publicly explain themselves or their actions to each other. The protestors direct personal taunts and personal actions, I.C.E. and any police I've seen that were present usually ignore them, until they can't. But neither I.C.E., nor the protesters have a dialogue. Until people speak, and perhaps understand each other's reasoning, I doubt much of anything about this CAN change. But damn - people - she died HARD.

[FlatDaddy]

You're right, Chris. I know only a little about her, and still I wrote this piece. I should have waited, a bit, I suppose, but I saw that first video, and shortly after, Lorraine told me she was a poet. That hit me very hard, and I dug up her award winning poem -- and it was filled with a lot of scientific jargon, way over my head -- certainly nothing like my crude stuff, and I felt this sudden sense of loss. I had to write something, it was all I could do for her. But I don't really know her, And now very few will. More importantly though, Chris, is she will know no one any more.

[Sad Unc Days 3562]

Question:

This explicit situation - terrorism by government - is the reason Americans are still allowed to own guns.

So, why are you not using them to defend yourselves?

[FlatDaddy]

You wonder why individual Americans don't use deadly force, against a force of thousands? Individuals would stand no chance, and this kind of reaction, done alone, would be tantamount to suicide.We must use peaceful means to force our elected members of congress to finally have the guts to do their jobs and impeach Trump, Noem all those others who are breaking the law.

[John the Baptist]

Renee Good was a graduate of my alma mater, Old Dominion university. I just finished watching the video taken by the ICE agent who shot her. These things are happening too frequently, and don't show any hint of decreasing. Something has to change.

[FlatDaddy]

I am sorry for your loss. I urge all who knew her -- and those who didn't -- to do one good thing for someone, today, in honor of Renee Good.

[Samuel Dickens]

Thank you for writing this. Her cruel and unnecessary death is just one among many that have occurred, with probably many more to come. The orange menace will surely burn in hell.

[FlatDaddy]

I feel the same, Sam. I also feel like more is to come that brings enlightenment,hope, great heroes and ... who knows?.

[Thomas W Case]

The restraint in the voice makes the ending hit harder; there’s no melodrama, just inevitability. Lines like “many miles from where she lay / and bled upon the snow” and “only half of all my years” linger long after the poem ends. A quiet elegy that understands how violence echoes far beyond the moment itself.

[FlatDaddy]

A tribute to a poet should have more depth than a greeting card, so I tried hard to do that. But sir, you embarrass me with such riches, I must blush. Thank you for your kindness, for me, and for Renee.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Yes, one of us...but called so many other things. Never should have happened.
It's an unfortunate world we live in when poets are shot dead. And without investigation called all kinds of radical names. This is a really good poem. Don't sell yourself short with this one.
Some poems that just pour out are perfect.
j.

[FlatDaddy]

Thank you so much, Jacob; from you, this means a lot, but it feels so inadequate, you know?

[FlatDaddy]

Well, J, I couldn't help but tinker with it just a bit. Some subtle changes made to verses five and six, and the fourth verse has a few things more that needed changing. Okay, I feel better now!

[Relic]

After seeing the recent body cam footage I have mixed feelings about her conduct. She was wrong, deadly wrong, and her wife may have contributed to her death. But I still wish she wasn't shot.

[FlatDaddy]

I've seen that same footage, and it seems a short bit of it is missing. And please tell me, in the first video, why did this dedicated, 10 year serving agent have his weapon drawn, against regulations, BEFORE the car started forward? You can see that in the first video, as well as see him move to the side, still firing.

[Relic]

I don't know the answers but she didn't obey orders. She took off when she shouldn't have and hit him. Whether the car slid on the ice toward him I don't know.

[FlatDaddy]

We can continue to debate, but there were many witnesses visible in both videos. If the feds will let the state and city law agencies participate in the investigation, maybe then we'll get the answers we need. It seems they're okay with that in the case of the shootings by Border Patrol in Portland.

[Relic]

No need to debate, FD. Regardless, I appreciate your poem is still well written in a way only a poet can create. :)

[FlatDaddy]

Just hyperbole of the moment. Thank you. I am glad you appreciate it in that way.