The Last Quatrain of the Ballad of Emmett Till lyrics
by Gwendolyn Brooks
AFTER THE MURDER,
AFTER THE BURIAL
Emmett's mother is a pretty-faced thing;
the tint of pulled taffy.
She sits in a red room,
drinking black coffee.
She kisses her killed boy.
And she is sorry.
Chaos in windy grays
through a red prairie.