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In the Still of Night

IN THE STILL OF NIGHT
       (AKA BEFORE THE BREAK OF DAWN Draws Near)


              I

In the still of night
we contemplate the dawn
of day when we shall be free
of the mind games shadowing liberation
sustained by generations whose lives were put on hold:
many ending in holes dug by tormentors of stolen sable souls.

In sanctified moments
blues, gospels and jazz harmonize
under the harvest moon 
reaping the fruits of ripening minds.

              II

In its due season
each stilled night generates
new revelations
revealing the I am because they were
the steady black bridges built
over the bloody chasm we have crossed.

              III

Now is the time to roll like thunder.
Now is the time to roll away apathy.
Now is the time to roll out the dream's reality.
Let us leave new legacies 
for those in the darkness of wombs.
Let us leave new footprints
leading to the light of a brighter day.

              IV

In the still of night
let us remember the tempestuous seas 
over which we have sailed.
In the still of night 
let us remember the beatings and the jails.
In the still of night
let us remember the reeking bowels
of slave ships survived.
In the still of night
let us remember the strange fruits 
of blood watered hanging trees.

                 V

In the still of night
before the break of dawn draws near
let us remember the blood debt owed us here.

black african americaninspirationalrememberprose poetry

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