Black History Month: I am your long lost sister
I am your long lost sister
I am a drop of blood, your blood,
Your ancestors’ blood
Flowing through nature’s river bed
Into the vast ocean of humanity
Of Black humanity
Of Africa’s History
Of African American Reality.
Come closer, my mother’s daughter
Look me in the eye, smile and laugh with me
I am your long lost sister
Left behind in Motherland Africa
To guard the ancestral shrines and spirits
And our mother’s rich treasures, hidden in the dark sooty pot
After you were raped and robbed by slavery
By dark wretched hearts that sold our family
Into the tortuous well of deep misery.
You call me black, ugly and dark
You step down on me like a piece of dirt
And yet you are a part of me, part of my family
You are my long lost sister
Grabbed into the jaws of slavery
Mocked, despised, abused and damned
Abandoned by the world for riches untold
Hanged on the cross like the Holy Christ
Alas, betrayed for 30 pieces of silver and more
For old money, that never grows old or cold.
No! Believe it not.
It is not you my sister that hates me so
Hurling these insults that hurt so deep
It is our scarred History; the pain in your eyes
The burning fire in the pit of your stomach
The vengeful bile of bitterness
That reminds you of our dreadful past
Whenever you see me
A past so horrendous, shameful and cursed
A past that makes it hard to forgive and love
A cursed past…
Forgive me my sister if my presence reminds you
Of all the skeletons of untold anguish
Buried under the sea of forgotten graves
Forgive me my sister if my presence makes you tremble
With guilt and shame,
Bleeds and rattles your dazed, crushed, bitter, spirit.
I bear no ill but love for you
I am your link with the past
The link, that will help you trace your lost self
I am your journey to self reclamation
Your link to self actualization
I am the powerful wave from the sea of Motherland
Come with healing salt from the ocean’s womb
And the charm of good luck
To cleanse you and set you free
I have come to pluck out the log from your eye
To help restore your blurred vision and mind
That you may recognize me,
My sister, your sister
I am the calm waters of undaunted spirits
Roaming the world in search of its lost humanity
I am your long lost sister
Whose haunted spirit traversed thousands of miles in wretched ships
Of dark History.
You are my long lost sister
Long lost sister
Long lost sister
Come let me hold your hand and guide you safely, home.
Gracie Williams is an International Journalist, Poet and Author.
