Tulsa

they had something

of their very own

it was distinguished

perhaps unprecedented

and it was theirs

outright

thriving

bustling

metropolis

enterprising

banks

a hospital

their own bus line

shops

these were no eyesore

but a centerpiece

all this

progression

by people of color

then one infamous day

it happened

someone said

that a heinous crime

had taken place

on a white woman

later found out

to be a false accusation

a black citizen

of the town

vowed to protect

a blast from his rifle fired

a short while after

a mob and the klan

launched an attack

they killed over three hundred black men

set fires

bombed

devastation

what once was monumental

now was reduced to a smoldering rubble

Tulsa 1921

had taken place

then

a jewel

q