To Dream of Nothing

It is so easy to dream On the Pulse of Morning To envision a new future at daybreak. But how fared my ancestors in the dark of night, Resuscitating the dreams of the slave? It is easier to bring about new life than to raise the dead. Yet this was the goal, their drink and their bread. To recapture their lost freedom indeed and embellish thereupon. To move on from centuries of pain and no longer be a pawn. But when finally they were paid their due, they were shorted what was owed. Second class citizens, not treated as Americans And rather than go back to the Motherland they chose to fight For what was now their land. And so the battle began again. They rode for our freedom. They walked for our rights. They spoke up for equality. And were slaughtered in the night. And when the dust settled And they stood, the few and the proud. They worked more still and paved the way So dreaming was allowed.