Before

Our ancestors

Once bound by chains

Time has tried to mend

Pondering where to begin

Look how far we have come

Yet still we have so far to go

Many are focused solely on a win

Blinded to the enemy buried within

It’s in rhetoric texture and tone

The lies we are told drag on and on

A time we couldn’t walk in the front door

We were tortured just walking to the store

So much has happened and it all came before

We owe a debt that there is no way to pay

Faces we didn’t know bound for the grave

They are tied to us and sold as slaves

Auctioneer bang the gavel as flesh is sold

It is seen simply as property to have and hold

Black Lives Matter is our modern out cry

All the while we fight each other bleed and die

Family seems different than what it use to mean

Now you can tear down your own brother and make it a meme

Respect and love is that which came before

marginalized to something you can buy in a store

I heard a youth say I would have never been a slave

His hubris never realized this was not a choice to be made

So many who came before and helped pave the way for this life that we lead today