A Small Glimmer of Light

what is my claim to fame a face in a crowd no name that stands me out from the multitude wading aimless in this bottomless vat searching for a glimmer of that somewhere light climbing on ladder straights that bend and break from the pressure of generations that sleep in hollow graves shedding tears from hollow eyes dried bones ache no more from the pains of life buried in this hole called nowhere enclosed by walls that echo and scream scream when they remember yesterday cry when they think tomorrow no longer seeking the warm rays of the sun even in death there work is undone ancestral spirits stand in the wings hover over trees whispering hold on don't give in to the bend in my back don't be afraid to let go of today there is light at the top of this bottomless vat i have held centuries who walked before you tubman, booker t, dubois sojourner, malcom, martin luther just to name a few don't give up to the ache in you feet the pain in your hips the chafe on your lips the blood in the palm of your outstretched hand no one to understand the pressure in the pit of your chest broken heart aching back lost in the crowd of this bottomless vat no father, no mother no sister, no brother a friend an illusion of the mind time has erased all traces of humanness climbing the ladder to that somewhere success hold on to your straight don't give in to the weight of those that stand on your toes sap your strength make you weak smile in your face then, slap the other cheek you did not die from the knife in your back healed over scars hidden wounds its too soon your don't have time to form an attack even with the knife hanging from your back peek the dawn that's about to break it's all right to cry no time to hate stretch your arm grab another straight step once more upon my back there is light at the top of this bottomless vat hold on don't give up you're on your way to a place called freedom