we shall be heard * by Conni Blair

When my course is charted
When my story is told
When I am revered
And have grown tired and old Tell no tales of my life
Let only truth toll the bell
Tell of my grace and my beauty
Tell how I rose and not fell
Tell of my mastering the language
Without being taught
Tell how when I was being shackeled
That I struggled and fought
Tell how alabaster skinned babies
Suckled nourishment from ebony breast
And how I stood erect in the cottonfield
Without hardly ever getting rest
And yet and still in that state
Caught the roving, evil eye Of the whip toting master
Although, vehemently, he denied
And still danced lightly through the meadow
And lay with my real soulmate
With a sensual, earthy countenance
And with God as the holder of my fate
Never write me off or count me out
For I am resilient and resolute
And my story is one of victory
And my voice is no longer mute
I Shall be Heard
I Shall Be Heard
We Shall Be Heard
- © Conni Blair, All rights reserved.