Or Forever Hold Your Peace
The silence is deafening
Banging on my ear drums
It’s the cries of my people
Our people
Suffering
A fate we know too well
How can we turn our heads
Close our eyes and pretend we don’t see
Don’t know
Don’t care
Or do we?
Has America really made us so numb
That we can no longer feel
No longer hope to heal our condition
Complacent
For their story is no different from ours
We are but extensions of one another
Connected by the very blood flowing through our veins
It’s about time for that change we sang was coming
Did we forget we have to facilitate it
It won’t be delivered on no silver platter
Fed Ex is not going to leave it at our doorstep
We’ve got to step out
Reach out and claim it
For next time it may be us
One day it will be us
Will we be prepared
Or still sleeping when it comes?
Wake up my brethren!
We’ve been sleeping for far to long
The time for rest is not yet
This season calls for action
Preparation
Teaching
Giving
Healing
Loving
All the things we’ve forgotten to do
Silence is not golden
When there is work to be done
I know you’re tired
Of the spilt blood decorating the concrete
A story put on repeat
This is not normalcy
Why doesn’t dysfunction alarm you?
Death is not something to get used to
Death is not a respite from life
When peace can just as easily exists here
You’ve just got to make room
Life can be pleasant too
But we’ve got to learn how to treat her
With dignity and respect
Not hostility and neglect
Please come correct
Take this time to reflect on your own life
What mark have you left on this world
Or will you die with life never knowing you were here?
What difference have you made?
What thought have you sparked?
Whose life have you changed?
Whose spirit have you touched?
Whose heart have you healed?
Who is going to remember you,
And what will they remember you for?
It is never too late to make a change
We are not living for ourselves
But for each other
Once we recognize the interconnectedness of life
We’ll see our every breath as purposed
We are all here for a reason
What is yours?
