(Black History Month in VA, 2024*)
Went down to the James River
And touched the deep still waters;
From the diaspora of the ripples
I heard screaming echoes of ancestors:-
I felt their spirits riding riverbank breezes;
Our souls mingled like the water and the earth.
Indeed, we are the people of the holy mud:
Ebony clods scooped and spat into creation.
Over many rivers and seas we have spread;
Now we stand; sable souls searching shores:-
Anchored deep—our undying spirit—in stilled waters,
Continue to fuel ebony souls that have known many rivers:-
*(First written over a decade ago. Edited & Revised for February 2024)