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Dark Prophecy: I Sing Of Shine

 And, yeah brothers
while white America sings about the unsinkable molly brown
(who was hustling the titanic
when it went down)
I sing to thee of Shine
the stoker who was hip enough to flee the fucking ship
and let the white folks drown
with screams on their lips
(jumped his black ass into the dark sea, Shine did,
broke free from the straining steel).
Yeah, I sing to thee of Shine and how the millionaire banker stood on the deck and pulled from his pockets a million dollar check saying Shine Shine save poor me and I'll give you all the money a black boy needs— how Shine looked at the money and then at the sea and said jump in muthafucka and swim like me— and Shine swam on—Shine swam on— and how the banker's daughter ran naked on the deck with her pink tits trembling and her pants roun her neck screaming Shine Shine save poor me and I'll give you all the pussy a black boy needs— how Shine said now pussy is good and that's no jive but you got to swim not fuck to stay alive— And Shine swam on Shine Swam on— How Shine swam past a preacher afloating on a board crying save me nigger Shine in the name of the Lord— and how the preacher grabbed Shine's arm and broke his stroke— how Shine pulled his shank and cut the preacher's throat— And Shine swam on—Shine swam on— And when news hit shore that the titanic had sunk Shine was up in Harlem damn near drunk—

Poem by Etheridge Knight
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