German Shepherd dogs
Next came the water hose
Bodies lynched, then set ablaze
Flesh singed, then meshed with clothes
Innocent black lives lost, on a blood stained Poplar tree
Even now, I hear the Slave Overseer's words
Echo inside me - epigenetically
"Nigger run, Nigger die, Nigger free"
I am he whose antecedents
Suffered and survived the Middle Passage's arduous trip
I am the progeny who sprang forth from chained loins
As human chattel, my ancestors suffered the sting of the whip
Their human dignity and sense of pride
Was debased, then denied
Bodies were beat (black and blue)
Yet, it was the bruises inside, they tried, but could not hide
Innocent black lives lost, victims of the lynching rope
Even now, I hear the Slave Overseer's words
Echo inside me - epigenetically
"Nigger run, Nigger die, Nigger hope"
I say again, I am he whose antecedents
Suffered and survived the Middle Passage's arduous trip
I am the progeny who sprang forth from shackled loins
As human chattel, my ancestors suffered the cabotage of a slave ship
In 1964, we were granted civil rights, but denied civility
A denial rooted in the bloom of racial hate
The verdant lushness of white supremacy's wicked fertility
So many innocent black lives lost
Because of eugenic's lies and untruths
Even now, I hear the Slave Overseer's words
Echo inside me - epigenetically
"Nigger run, Nigger die, Nigger choose"
* Reprinted from 'Simian Soul Poems by Mekael' *
© July 21,2010 by Mekael Shane
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem