Hasn'T The Freedom To Self Destruct Been Enough? Poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

Unbelievably convinced and not offended,
With minds fenced in and densed.
After more than four hundred years,
Of holding on to the same defenses...
And self inflicted fears,
That there is a 'they' and 'them'...
To accuse without ending,
As the reason...
For their 'conditional' mental problems,
Affecting the acceptance of their bondage.

And with a repeating of kept grief,
To hold close and near...
As if to appease their ancestors,
Who were brave enough to face these fears...
Generations after emancipation,
Has freed the physicality...
Of those shackles and chains,
In their minds that still remain blocked.
With their brains staying locked,
To a self enslavement they can not stop.

The power they've given to 'them' and 'they',
Remains so effective...
Even today!
And on their knees they are still found praying,
For 'something' to arrive out of the day or night sky...
To validate it is okay to disobey,
The rules of every abandoned plantation.
But they can not get up out of their ruts,
To express homage to their own ancestors...
Who did not struggle just to have them whining on 'butts'.

'Where is your identity? ' They say from their graves
'What has happened to your integrity?
That integrity you've chased away.
And if you refuse to respect yourselves,
What do you expect from someone else?
Hasn't the freedom to self destruct,
Been enough?
Or are you seeking an approval to retrieve your dignity? '