Of dreams I fly of times long gone by
Since my eyes first saw the dawn
Where the thundering of hooves now quiet
After the lions, no longer hungry, lay lazily
And from lush green savannahs to dust driven dens
My mind ravenous with curiosity
I ventured into the powdered white north and tropical paradises
And to this day, without greed, I made neither haste nor waste
I persisted and I flourished
Until the chains of civilization placed my children into bondage
I am judged by the color of my skin
Not by my miracles nor the magnitude of my sins
Though sensibilities would believers of us make
That thousands of years of progress we have made to date
Yet, I am punished for my only offense
The very breath that I take
In apprenticeship of learned men
I thrive, I build, I embrace the art of Zen
From the ruins of Egypt, Rome, and Greece
To the east where live the Persians, the Hindu, the Chinese
I till the soil, mine the earth, and raise edifices that
Sing heavenly tribute to eras gone by
That haunts my soul, enslave my body, and condemn my children
I forge forward frayed conquistador satiated on the sanguine promise,
We will inherit it all
I am judged by the color of my skin
Not by my miracles nor the magnitude of my sins
Though sensibilities would believers of us make
That thousands of years of progress we have made to date
Yet, I am punished for my only offense
The very breath that I take
Obese with the luxury to freely roam
Every crevice of theories, thought, and ideas
We stumble onto each new day unaware of our fortune
Where in gilded homes we rest, we feed, we caress
And in fancy chariots we traverse Eden renovated with cement and steel
The same path today, the same path yesterday, the same path tomorrow
And if we vary we see clearly the empty promise of home
Our caves, our fields, our forests, our streams
Heavy their burden on the children of our Fathers’ dreams
Their lies, our tears, we part at the seams
We divert our eyes, clench our purses, believing this is not me
We are true to form and to history’s recursivity
I am judged by the color of my skin
Not by my miracles nor the magnitude of my sins
Though sensibilities would believers of us make
That thousands of years of progress we have made to date
Yet, I am punished for my only offense
The very breath that I take
I will continue to persist for I wish to do more than exist
I aspire to civility
