Not Far From Ferguson by Donal Mahoney

 

 

Not far from Ferguson

in South St. Louis,

a Bosnian man 

was murdered days ago

by four teens–three Black

and one Hispanic. 

They pounded Zemir Begic

with hammers 

while his fiancée watched.

 

The newspaper claims

race didn’t play a role 

in Zemir’s death but

the Bosnian community

felt otherwise as they

marched peacefully down 

the main thoroughfare

in their neighborhood.

 

Today the newspaper teems

with articles about Ferguson,

something it has offered daily

in the three months since

the killing of Michael Brown.

But three days after the death

of Zemir Begic the paper offers

no further explanation.

No word either as to whether

the Reverend Al Sharpton

will come to St. Louis to meet

with the Bosnian community.

President Obama has yet

to offer condolences.

 

Most Bosnians in St. Louis

are immigrants who understand 

hatred and discrimination,

having come to the city 

to escape death in Bosnia

at the hands of Serbs.

 

This is not a good time 

to be either Black or Bosnian

in metropolitan St. Louis.

It’s not a good time 

to be anyone else either.

We are at best observers

in an urban forest 

surrounded by

anger and gossip.

Many of us would prefer

a  bridge to crawl under

provided it’s home to trolls

who offer a silent night.

That might be the best place 

to spend Christmas this year,

better perhaps than

almost anywhere else

in St. Louis.