A Murder in Mississippi

A poem about Emmett Till and a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement

This poem is part of the NaPoWriMo 2024 challenge to write a poem a day in April. This is the prompt for April 20:

Our optional prompt for the day challenges you to write a poem that recounts a historical event. In writing your poem, you could draw on your memory, encyclopedias, history books, or primary documents.

In the summer of '55, Mississippi called,
A land starkly different and unfamiliar.
Fate called Emmett Till on a journey 
That would forever change history.

Emmett visited relatives, 
seeking connection and kinship
In the Mississippi Delta, 
unknown territory.

Near Money, a small town, 
destiny crossed his way,
In the form of Carolyn Bryant, 
a young white woman.

Details of their encounter, 
shrouded in dispute,
Accusations arose, 
whispers of forbidden actions.

Flirtation, a touch, a whistle in the air,
All violated the code, the unspoken rule
Black men could not initiate 
contact with white women.

Days passed, then a night draped in darkness,
Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam w…