Bow Down/Rise Up

“Bow down!”

says the enemy;

“Bow down before me!”

We will not kneel, however;

We will not yield to animosity

even as his banner waves up high—

placard of antipathy

in the country of equality.

“Bow down!”

charge the antagonists

blind with dislike;

“Bow down before us

like the cotton flowers

below the sun.”

One by one we ascend from our pews

(Nine of them empty),

Our arms linked together—

“We will not.

We will not!”

“Bow down!”

dictate the intolerants;

“Bow down as you have before!”

But the Lord says:

“Rise up!

Rise up, children of the world

Like the Southern dawn

Against the nocturnal skies!”

And we will rise—

Yes, we rise

not against the nemeses

but against the prejudice

that enslaves the progression of humanity:

there is no vacancy in this world for hatred.

We lift the flag of unity

To wave against the boundless and cloudless heavens:

We are one nation,

One race,

One people under God.