Poets note: (this piece is inspired by real life) my Ancestor, my 4th Great Grandfather, Peter Branch, was one of the troops stationed in nearby City Point, Virginia during the Civil War.
Lets get started..
I walked the ground
in Richmond where
my
Grandpa Peter Branch
marched as part
of the United States
Colored Troops…
those mighty souls
who turned the tide
of the war…
4 score and 7 years ago
as Mr. Lincoln said
This empath
is blinking
wondering if the
Ancestors
knew that their roots
would extend this far…
did they wish
upon a star
that their ilk wouldn’t
inhabit the box
of low expectations
and a lack of aspirational
inclinations?
if anything
be like Henry Brown…
and
use the box
as a portal
to navigate the
sharks in water
until we get to the Promised Land,
it ain’t pie
in the sky…
it is right here.
Some of my fellow humans
are afraid of
their shadow
or the notions
of evil
hiding within
them
talking from both
sides of their
mouth.
In my role
as a Poet
I am dutybound
to let my
fellow humans know…
of these
vibrations creating
fissures
in doubt.
In closing some wise words…
from the Ancients
who would sanction
me if I didn’t listen…
keep your nose
in these books
Youngblood
they will save
your life…
stay out of the
box it ain’t
no air in there.
A live reading of the piece as part of the Pa and Son Adventures below:
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