AFTER THE FBI SEARCHED THE BAYOU

Myrlie Evers

When they unearthed

each new corpse,

we couldn’t speak for days.

We came back

from that dark place

in tears—not for ourselves,

but for all the mutilated

and charred remains that were not

Goodman, Schwerner, or Chaney.

We could only find solace

looking out over the Mississippi,

watching that dark woman

swallow the sun.