One day, over the horizon, the Ocean Devils came
And our world and our lives would forever lose their Fame
Lies and deceit they used without care
And their weapon of submission was one called Fear
Chained to the ship and bolted to its floor
I almost perished at Death's dark door.
They sold my mammy and sold my pappy
sold my sis and her two kids
I stepped up on the auction block
the man said "Sold" to the highest bid.
I picked cotton and tobacco and peas and corn
In the sun, twenty four seven and dreaded the dawn
Some were hung, some were shot, some were boiled in oil,
Some just gave up and fell and vanished under soil.
When men breathe Gold and Silver
And inhale those smells of Power
The wind of Reason chokes
And distils a poison sour
No longer are they Christian
They've forgotten friend and brother
Now, Gold is God and rules the day
That enslaves one man to another
I grimaced and wiped the sweat from my brow and from my face
Knowing this inhumanity to man would one day about face
Thru salted tears I visioned Africa, my heart, my land,my home
Where I was King and saw my Queen atop a sapphire throne
Where sunbaked Pyramids glistening on sand
testify the endurance of God in Man
Where stone chiseled Temples' rank and file poured
Knowledge in our minds on the banks of the Nile
The maternal Love in the eyes of our Sphinx
was civilization's progress watched link by link.
These are but a few in our Chain of Fame
When over the sea the Ocean devils came
Time chews on events and men then swallows
digesting the pasts of great tomorrows,
gobbling even morsels off future trays
and the crumbs of magnificent yesterdays.
I blinked and woke from dreaming this daytime reverie
plantation noises proving it was not where I should be
Laboring, toiling in the field,my count must not go slack
Or face that dreaded slice of air, the whip, the sound, the crack
[an error occurred while processing this directive]