River Blood

Dedicated to my culture and heritage as an African-American woman, and the trials and obstacles that my people have gone through and have endured. I hope you all see the bigger message . Thank You.

In these rivers, they hold sins of your ancestors,
Unspeakable acts that are worse than that of child molesters.
These rivers hold stepping stones traced to my blood line,
From being captured onto a ship until now, they have stories in time.
There are souls in these rivers,
Souls with engraved lashes of hatred that'll give you the shivers.
Lynchings still smell abundant in the trees aligned with the streams,
Lashes from the leather belt on our backs still stings.
We can't sleep peacefully at night because nightmares become our dreams,
Wondering why until this day, do my people get treated so wrong and mean??
Harriet Tubman risked her life in these rivers,
Leading negroes to serenity even when she had bloody feet and her lips quivered.
There is something dark in these rivers,
Blood from thousands of African Tribes keep these streams flowing and alive.
Although we were burned,shot, and tied to an automobile,
These rivers will always have memories of all the slaves that were killed.
River Blood...
Cold, bloody streams of heartache, courage, struggle, exhaustion and pain,
Yet, until this day, pride of our own skin color is what we have gained.
Now, here we are rocking all this ice and gold chains,
But blood of slaves from the master are put into construction of these chains, last of the negro heartache remains.
These rivers reflect prison sentences we couldn't escape,
Unwanted sexual advances known to my people as rape.
Shackles on our ankles make us enslaved to resentment,
Praying to Jesus wishing we were never in this predicament.
Killers! Thieves! N*****s! You name our flesh,
Colored signs and colored lines say we are worthy than less.
River Blood...
As if the roots in my hair weren't dark enough,
The touch of master's hands proves that I'm mentally strong and physically tough.
These rivers hold tales and stories of us,
Stories that display our dedication and trust,
And stories that show God never gave up on us.
Trust...trust that shows we extended it to one another,
When we respected our own lightskin and darkskin sisters and brothers.
River Blood....
We keep bleeding in these rivers,
Bleeding as continuous victims of our prejudice killers.

Author's Note

This poem is off my upcoming poetry book titled: Unspoken Dreams. Hope you enjoy the poem, and the book will be released in late March 2016. Thank you.

Reviews

[V]

Strong and expressive piece of writing. Truthful, thoughtful and dark images.
I wish you success with the release of your poetry book.