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8
In The Still Of Night
(Before The Break Of Dawn)
I
In the still of night we contemplate
The dawn of the day when we shall be free
Of the mind games shadowing liberation
Sustained by generations whose lives were put on hold:
Many ending in holes dug by tormentors of sable souls.
Under the harvest moon
Sanctified moments capture the harmony
Of blues-jazz-gospels awakening dominant minds:
Once more and again sown with seeds of regeneration.
II
In its season, each stilled night generates new revelations
Revealing the I am because they were the steady black bridges
Over the chasm that “with blood had been watered…”:
Steady black bridges over which we crossed over on.
Yet, despite the toil and toll of ancestor travelers,
We’ve forgotten the blood debt to be paid.
III
Now is the time to roll like thunder;
Now is the time to pick up the mantle of the torch bearers;
Now is the time to pursue the dream’s reality.
Let us lay up new legacies for those in the darkness of wombs
That they may see the light of a new day dawning.
IV
In the still of night, let us remember
The waters over which we have sailed;
Let us remember the bowels of the slave ships
Which we ascended, standing tall upon their decks.
In the still of night, let us remember
The tempestuous seas we survived:
Singing new songs resonating
Rhythms of our ancestors;
Riding the winds of change
Blowing new beginnings
On the waves of time.
