Best American History Poems
In the land of sun and sand,
Where the world burns hot and bright,
Stands a man with skin of onyx,
A black man, a noble sight.
He walks with purpose and power,
His stride firm and unyielding,
For he knows the weight of history,
And the challenges of his being.
Through the centuries of oppression,
His people have persevered,
From the chains of slavery,
To the fight for civil rights revered.
But this man is not just a symbol,
Of the struggle and the pain,
He's a person with a story,
And a heart that beats the same.
He loves, he dreams, he creates,
With a passion and a fire,
And though the world may try to break him,
He stands tall, his spirit higher.
For he is more than just his color,
More than the stereotypes that bind,
He is a son, a brother, a father,
A man with a brilliant mind.
So let us celebrate this black man,
And all the beauty he brings,
For in his strength and in his love,
Our world is truly enriched.
“WE AIN’T FORGOTTEN…”
You cried a smile
shadowing anger
beneath a canopy
of love
Your necks filled nooses
tied with Christian knots
that never failed
Your wombs challenged
the holding holes
of sanctified graveyards
You kneaded gospels
from the dough of pain
and fed starving souls:
You moaned songs
with groans echoing
echoes from the depths
of suffering spirits—
Suffering spirits
whose fortified bent backs
gave rise to a flourishing nation
The fruits of your labors
have now ripened:
dropping pregnant seeds
germinating liberty
upon justice…?
today
the rain fell
steadily;
her tears
reminiscent
of waters
drowning justice
struggling
to survive
tidal waves
of deception—
seeking to douse
the flame of hope
held high
in hand—
an elusive lady
struggling
to stand
her anchored
mooring
From the greenest acres of laden wood
The painted asphalt of a future's path
In breathless moments of events withstood
Upon the virtue of Jehovah's wrath
Founded a nation in united task
Brought forth the torrent souls of righteous gain
The restless embodied from shackle's drain
Grasped upon the mountains of western earth
Spoke forth the sound of Man's forsaken name
Under God is given a nation's birth.
.
Evils carried from past down times of old
As the horse pulled coach acquires new ground
The loot of war traded for food and gold
Twenty souls to work for free in Jamestown
Honored men and women of darkened brown
Though freedoms hide in masks of truths bestowed
A new age ends the era, quid-pro-quo
As pennies now define a man his worth
A right tiptoes in by D' Angelo
Under God is given a nation's birth.
.
Prosperity of a nation divides
The father's musket lays his son to rest
Here within, rises the Jekyll and Hyde
As the babe has bitten the mother's breast
It is what pleases you that we detest
Sounds off the blood of the servitude man
We shall fight you now if even by hand
No more are we twopence halfpennyworth
We all are God's image since time began
Under God is given a nation's birth.
.
In wondrous acres of built city wood
Ushering in an equal common good
Where all men glimmer the strength of the earth
Judged not by color or value or worth
The dawn brings light of a life understood
Under God is given a nation's birth.
By: Darren J McMurray
January 20, 2009
My mind cannot erase the memory of Emmett Till
I often dream about his badly-mutilated body –
The fourteen-year-old Black lad mercilessly beaten
To death … for ostensibly flirting with a white woman.
A victim of the era in which he lived, he was lynched,
But the men who killed him were found “Not Guilty.”
Have we any reason to wonder why Blacks are angry?
The number of cases of Blacks murdered by police
During routine traffic stops, for no reason, astounds,
There is a twisted reason why our prisons are teeming
With young Black men and women, while they are
Only a small minority of the general population --
Prejudice and racism are rampant, indeed systemic,
In America, touted as the land of freedom and justice.
written March 1, 2022
Rosa Louise Parks
refused to give up her seat
“First Lady of Civil Rights”
back in fifty-five
civil disobedience
‘fore Martin Luther King’s time
courageous Rosa
kept her seat and caused a stir
faith told her she was right
created equal
in the colorblind eyes
of a Lord who loves mankind
desegregation
took decades to accomplish --
a Maverick led the way
*Entry for Cyndi’s "Mavericks" contest
This choka was tweaked by having six instead of seven syllables in the second line of the third verse.
Rosa Louise Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) An African American, Parks refused to obey a Montgomery, Alabama bus driver’s order that she give up her seat to make room for a white passenger. Congress bestowed upon her the title “First Lady of Civil Rights.”
Written from black hands,
Innovative jazz poems:
Harlem renaissance.
Promises Not Kept
by Chuck Keys
As leaves flow in the breeze,
Change. Peanut butter needs jelly.
Water can taste dry - alone effortlessly.
Color is a difference. Superficially superficial.
A little boy lives without ... - Fearful. Tearful.
Cold without a roof.
My mommy isn't home,
Job searching in disguise. No. Heatless
And brrr, cold smiles ... anger heartache.
Daddy, what daddy?
TV was stolen, again.
Willy got cut up, bad.
Spend money on me, not war,
Nothing changed since Martin
Why? I'm hungry. Oneness.
© Charles H Keys, 2010. All Rights Reserved
Over 200 years of oppression
Now days are we paying for our transgressions
Doing slavery we used our bravery
Breaking the chains doing the inhumane suffering and pain
While being disrespected by being called ambiguous names
Tubman took us through the underground
Old spirituals and praising the Lord was our sound
Douglass reformed abolitionist as he became free
While up North he read poetry by Phillis Wheatley
Sojourner was all about telling the truth
While W. B. Dubois taught us about our history, is that enough proof
These heroes and activist trail blazed the way
They put their faith and trust in God every day
When racial tension became too extreme Father God gave us Malcolm X and Dr. King
Why doesn’t it feel like that the freedom bell still rings?
America has an unapologetic past
A dark cloud of racial hatred has been casted
There is no respect for what has been done
Our ancestors raised their voices and fist, while our youth has loaded their guns
From our past history we were showed how to lead
But we have to encourage with God’s love to our new techno-media breed
In unity and peace on bended knees we have to constantly pray
So come together as one, “Let’s Lead the Way”
“He who cannot be a good follower cannot be a good leader.” -Aristotle
The Check is in the Mail
Authored by Chuck Keys
At the beginning there was no rain,
Only the thundering noise and bright bolts of lightning.
The trees and bushes trembled with the cold winds
Pouring sheets of rain soon followed.
The stones and the ground cover cringed,
Everything echoed and shook from the hard driving forces present.
There was no place to run or hide. God
Was making his statement.
There will be no peace tonight,
Everything is in play.
Someone is in pain, searing aching ever increasing pain,
Like the agony of a toothache, thumping, pulsing, thud, thud, thud
Louder and more intense with each breadth
The body and spirit is consumed, tightly wrapped up,
Absorbed in the discomfort of now.
And it's not going away on its own.
There will be no peace tonight,
Everything is in play.
He was stolen, placed in chains,
400 years ago,
Brow beaten from the beginning, in and out
Never allowed to be his own,
Not like whites, he was property, owned and operated
But different non-white, (why are we still talking of color?)
Yet beings we all are.
There will be no peace tonight,
Everything is in play.
We cry for what was taken but can never be returned
Not wanting to be raised above or over,
Wanting not a victory, but delivered equality.
Through love and nonviolence Martin and they forged ahead,
No more waiting for the check in the mail,
But expecting the expected.
There will be no peace tonight,
Everything is in play.
The storm is here and now.
A debt of honor is due,
With the passing of time, where is restitution?
We accept love, education, pride and joy,
We can't accept the hatred of crime, violence,
The lack of housing and work,
Pain never fades on its own.
It needs attention.
God’s values our values,
The one constant, never becomes vague.
Without compromise. Without compromise.
There will be no peace tonight,
Everything is in play.
The storm continues with its blinding rage,
Waiting for an answer, not patiently, but expectantly,
There will be no peace tonight in their lives as in our hearts,
Everything is in play.
Erma Bombeck, Words of Wisdom.
Coretta Scott King, Peace and Reason.
Rosa Parks, Stood Victorious!
Betsy Ross, Our Nations Seamstress.
Mother Mary, Bore Jesus in Bethlehem.
Harriet Tubman, Lead Slaves to Freedom.
Queen Ester, Saved her Nation.
Amelia Earhart, Gave all to Aviation.
Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt.
Joan of Arc, Martyred Standing the Test.
Florence Nightingale, Healed Soldiers Wounds.
Fanny Crosby, Blind but wrote Gods Tunes.
Madame Curie, Discovered Cures.
Mother Teresa, Fed the Poor.
Annie Oakley, World famous markswoman.
Harriet Beecher Stowe, Author of Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Dear Abby, Averting Trouble Big and Small.
Eve of Eden, First Woman and Mother to us all....
International Woman's Day March 8, 2008
Deducated To John Heck
Separate is not Equal
Authored by Chuck Keys
It is said,
that life must be one.
It is felt,
when we are parted apart.
Why must we learn to separate
on what is viewed together in the wind.
Do we equate our lives to others,
to separate can never be equal.
Who decides better may be at worst,
the eagle soars to new highs only as one.
Two tall man are standing, one is white, the other isn't,
both are tall, proud and great.
Oh gracious mother of waters
beautiful woman has come
queen of joy pleasing to thy king
Oh green eyed silent beauty
Voice as sweet as a kind heart
Eye brows as straight as an arrow
Oh great mediator of divine
Fingers coated with melted gold
Shaped with a swan like neck
Oh princess among many others
Resolute cheeks steady as gaze
Gleaming hair with black locks
Oh goddess as capable as a king
lips as bright as berry fondant
Eyes outlined with silver glimmer
Oh daughter dark and comely
Legs long like the harvestman
Waist as round as a circle
Oh queen of beauty and devotion
Won respect in history of goddess
As most beautiful in your time
Remembered for beauty and power
sea island natives
living reminders of trade
cotton rice and indigo
gullah life is made
five benne wafers
cast into new daylight
the hudu spell is torn away
rest easy then this night
bridges came and baskets sold
the younguns moved to town
rich men came and stole our land
again to trod us down
But some have stayed to tell the tales
of how our world began
of lands and cultures far away
before man had ever owned man
(A) brown skin girl from Kosciusko
now from the world of Harpo (is)
hubristic in determination.
Vitality is her achievement in Black America.
Patois she explores as she shares her vision that is
Apparent to listening to her OWN intuition.
Futuristic characteristic she deploys.
A mason jar of lighting bugs to bring forth
to revolutionize via innovation.
Ultramodern in her political activism.
Argots as she speaks.
She’s a trailblazer of ideas.
_______________________________________________|
Written February 20, 2016!
My main man Michael
Where you’re is where you’re, J
Keep shining like stars
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© Joseph S. Spence, Sr., (Epulaeryu Master) 6/28/09
All Rights Reserved, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Senior Advisor, to Founder of Motivational Strips
Ambassador De Literature
Noble Star of Literature 2018
Living Legend of the 21st Century
Pentasiv B World Friendship Poetry Featured Poet 2019© Joseph Spence, Sr.,
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Joseph S. Spence, Sr., is the author of "The Awakened One Poetics" (2009), which is
published in seven different languages. He invented the Epulaeryu poetry form, which
focuses on succulent cuisines and drinks. He is published in various forums, including the
World Haiku Association; Poetinis Druskininku, Milwaukee Area College, Phoenix Magazine;
Möbius Poetry, and Taj Mahal Review to name a few. Joseph is a Goodwill Ambassador for
the state of Arkansas, USA, a college faculty, and a military veteran.
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