Today, the Duke and the King are remembered in a poem acknowledging the transformation of a culture.
COTILLION DREAMS
A Poem for Black History Month, 2017
A Poem for Black History Month, 2017
There has to be a time to count the cost
To recognize the price we paid to gain
Acknowledging the precious things now lost
By choosing sacrifice and not surrender
To recognize the price we paid to gain
Acknowledging the precious things now lost
By choosing sacrifice and not surrender
And so be made to value here and now
In waking hours meant to build tomorrow
Assigning value both to what and how
As well as consequences unforeseen
In waking hours meant to build tomorrow
Assigning value both to what and how
As well as consequences unforeseen
My granddad lived his dream of gallant night
The ballroom lit with crystal chandelier
The gracious daughters beaming their dark light
An assemblage of urban princesses and queens
The ballroom lit with crystal chandelier
The gracious daughters beaming their dark light
An assemblage of urban princesses and queens
The freedom to seek their love, a willing mate
Who would dance and soar forever until dawn
When sunlight would restore a harsh, black fate
Cotillion and its liberty all gone
Who would dance and soar forever until dawn
When sunlight would restore a harsh, black fate
Cotillion and its liberty all gone
Until another generation lifts their heart
With dreams and hopes of shining in brigade
Sounding a trumpet to announce their start
Our entering nobility, coming of age
With dreams and hopes of shining in brigade
Sounding a trumpet to announce their start
Our entering nobility, coming of age
Just as I reached the day to dream the same
A new demand for Civil Rights was heard
The balm that lessened Segregation’s shame
Erased by the dream of struggle, honor, triumph
A new demand for Civil Rights was heard
The balm that lessened Segregation’s shame
Erased by the dream of struggle, honor, triumph
The black men we had thought we would become
Would never exist, the way to manhood’s joy
Revealed as marches, beatings, death for some
Jack and Jill, and debutante days a memory
Would never exist, the way to manhood’s joy
Revealed as marches, beatings, death for some
Jack and Jill, and debutante days a memory
We are to understand what we now see
Was paid for not with trinkets of the past
But with futures and roots to our reality
And it’s right to ask, did we pay too much?
Was paid for not with trinkets of the past
But with futures and roots to our reality
And it’s right to ask, did we pay too much?
A people blessed by GOD to reign with style
Harassed by weak and beggarly police
The Nation owes a debt, return our smile
America’s dream for our youth must not cease
Harassed by weak and beggarly police
The Nation owes a debt, return our smile
America’s dream for our youth must not cease
The Ellington elegance and beauty yet alive
Our passion for human dignity no less
Is not to be taken away before they dream it
Their inalienable right to be gentlemen and ladies
Our passion for human dignity no less
Is not to be taken away before they dream it
Their inalienable right to be gentlemen and ladies
Thug life and branding irons cast away
Knowing their lives matter throughout a universe
And given their fair chance they will obey
The higher laws of grace and cotillion unafraid
Knowing their lives matter throughout a universe
And given their fair chance they will obey
The higher laws of grace and cotillion unafraid
A birthright has to be more than pain
And crops of poverty
The tears of grief instead of rain
To drench our thirsting sons
And crops of poverty
The tears of grief instead of rain
To drench our thirsting sons
An inheritance must be more than dreams
And a heritage more than death
Ripples of honor should merge as streams
And join to deep oceans of faith
And a heritage more than death
Ripples of honor should merge as streams
And join to deep oceans of faith
The surface of the earth our dwelling place
The sky an expanse for flight
With room for stars and every race
Forging bonds of possibility
The sky an expanse for flight
With room for stars and every race
Forging bonds of possibility
The unforgettable victory
Fearless generations knit
New vision that otherwise would not be
Sacred music for satin dolls
Fearless generations knit
New vision that otherwise would not be
Sacred music for satin dolls
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Ephesians 6: 12-13, King James Version (KJV)
THE BLACK PHOENIX
Washington, DC
Washington, DC
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