Up Longer Than Down

You look at the shadow

Down trodden

Sleeping on the street

Dormant, wondering

Where’s his next quarter

Or when will he next eat?

You think, what a travesty

Why is his story so bleak?

As if life started

Where you two first meet

Which is far from the truth

Of his history

You think maybe

Because his skin is brown

When in truth

He comes from stock

That’s been up

Much longer than down

So many shadows of color

But all are Black

Just treading on tough roads

Where the deck’s been stacked

But, the shadow’s

No Johnny Come Lately

Long time it’s been around

And longer up, than down

From Pyramids to Timbuktu

To Garvey, Elijah, and Martin King too

Giants among few

Masters among pigmies

Envied and turned blue

Outraged at the thought of change

That would alter

The slave-master game

Recrown a glory

And rewrite our story

One that reads in simple words

Your success is eminent

And not absurd

You are proud

And destined to rule

Your hieroglyphics set the basis

For all the world’s schools

But the knowledge was changed,

Rearranged, and with it

You’ve been hoodwinked,

Bamboozled and fooled

But, at the end of the day

You’ve been up

Longer than down

You wore a smile longer

Than you’ve worn this frown

You’ve been wiser longer

Than a White man’s clown

But, you look at the shadow

Down trodden

Two pay checks from homeless

Worried and overly stressed

Black people, once proud

Now broke and depressed

It seems hopeless

Oh, what a mess!

But, there is light

At the end of the tunnel

A rope on which to hold

We just have to be bold

Say it loud

“I’m Black, and I’m Proud!”

Stand up! And remove the shroud

Join hands will all

Who look like you, like me

Our power is in our unity

Together as a solid wall

Nullifies Humpty and breaks his fall

As a crowd we form a safety net

That one day

The world will respect

Then, what was shadow

Will be in the light

Standing upright and poised to fight

Prepared to make a new life

One where prosperity abounds

As we re-member

We’ve been up

longer than down.

A Simpy Fab Poem©

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