Time Stood Still

Ekphrastic poem: a poem about a piece of art, picture, etc. [If you click on the picture, it will enlarge and show you what my inspiration for this poem was]

A boy lays in the street,
a gun pointed to his head.
He stares up at his mother,
who has five guns staring at her.
She only cares about the sixth,
the one pointed at her son’s head.

Click.
The shutter goes off,
but no one notices.
They are unaware
of what surrounds them.
No one dares to move,
the fear is paralyzing.

One arm is strong by her side,
the same arm she used to carry her son with,
her hand curled into a fist.
Refusing to let go, refusing
to back down. The other,
outstretched; the knife
is an extension of her arm.
The blade kisses the officer’s neck.

Her face is covered with
a look of determination.
She doesn’t say a word,
yet she screams do not touch my family!!
She will win this, it
is clear in her eyes.

The photograph captured
only a millisecond.
Who knows how long
this standoff lasted.
Between the officers with their guns
and mother armed with determination
and a knife.