US Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera shared an original poem that commemorates the lost lives of Philando Castile, Alton Sterling, Dallas police officers Lorne Ahrens, Michael Krol, Michael J. Smith, Brent Thompson, and Patrick Zamarripa, their families, and the injured. The poem, titled “@the Crossroads—A Sudden American Poem,” is posted at the Academy of American Poets website.

An excerpt of the poem reads:

Let us celebrate the lives of all

As we reflect & pray & meditate on their brutal deaths

Let us celebrate those who marched at night who spoke of peace

& chanted Black Lives Matter

Let us celebrate the officers dressed in Blues ready to protect 

Let us know the departed as we did not know them before—their faces,

Bodies, names—what they loved, their words, the stories they often spoke

Before we return to the usual business of our days, let us know their lives intimately

Read the full poem.

Photo Credit: Tomas Ovalle / Los Angeles Times.