Black Swan

Be of good cheer;
my GG said to me
Strapped down by struggle;
yet, you are what they envy
Marked out for disfavor;
wars waged against you
Wiled from wholeness;
the ancestors’ cries we rue
Bound in oceans of tears;
bearing the whelps of colonial rule,
up from the desolate corners of history;
we still await 40 acres and a mule
Misled by your steel constitution;
the infinity of its brawn
Unfurl, leap forward, and soar;
like the plumaged Black swan
Like Kings to their courts;
we are immortal majesty,
Like seas and like sands;
we respond and contort,
Like opals and like rubies;
we entrap peering dames,
Unbending, unfaltering, unyielding;
like moths to steady flame
Journey the misty path, King;
steady and measured,
the resilience of your smile;
coined as national treasure
Time hangs heavy;
over windswept dunes,
kinky crowns extend and shine;
to the golden suns and silver moons
Ruled as pharaohs and regents;
now fossilized beneath the earth,
Resurfaced as artisans and whistlers;
avowing my utter worth
We governed tribes and engraved tombs;
from the valley’s ravine to the mountain’s peak,
Branded, beaten, buried;
yet we’ve risen, brethren, of whom He speaks
How do I collect myself, and cope,
when the world turns me down?
I’ve matured to the realization,
as a King, I bear the crown
We are rich like brocade;
Delicate like chiffon,
Lasting like tweed;
And, natural like silk
Our laughs are fleeting birds;
chasing freedom’s call,
From tiny brook to raging torrent;
planting dreams where water falls
Run, tender boy, run;
bear towards the light,
Be tender, child;
and joyous in flight
Let your chorus flutter;
as it sings unflinchingly gay,
Lift your hands high;
and live aloud with sway
Unbothered like the lion’s mane, we flourish;
We forge onward — like camels endure endless horizons;
As elephants trod savannas,
our thickets of struggle become enlivened
I once wore shackles;
queued and affixed in procession
I now wear bangles;
adhering to no man’s possession
You question my existence
Why is he at the table?,
awestruck and wondering
as to how I was even able
We revel in pride and style;
teeming in African cloak,
Centuries and bloodlines gone
yet, our consciousness remains woke
Your identity is complex;
my GG said to me
go, King, as the wind billows
Black swan, you are free
