On Our Knees

On Our Knees The silhouette of my ancestors Breaks the glow of the distant dawn’s early light— a smooth horizon severed by The jagged peaks and valleys betwixt their bones Backs broken into submission Servitude and shame Over the fruited plains whose seeds they sowed On their knees Beneath the sun that shone upon your forefathers faces and burned rivers of tears In the eyes of my grandmothers, grandfathers And our King with the Truth that the spoils of fields they toiled would not be theirs They crouched in desperate prayer for their children’s deliverance On their knees Storms of sacrifice our mothers and fathers fought for this light to shine On them, on me. Others to be. Billowing rainbows of victory for justice won glowed faintly with promise That this banner would wave for all They gave thanks On their knees Blood in the streets I see on your hand As it reaches to touch my own We stand together beneath the flag whose shadow engulfs your spirit and which mine cannot reach Unless humbled at half staff Fireworks past sunset Piercing the night sky like a bullet wound blaze red in both our eyes Drawing different tears Of pride inspired, pride denied Trapped in sharing this vignette of time. Will the sun rise again with us together On our knees?