The Conversation
© N Noël Sept 2010


The conversation has changed between us
The gap has grown so wide
We have no sense of family
Culture, heritage or National pride

Ships brought us inland
From the continent so long ago
Chained up, bound and buried
In that coffin called the hull
Different nations all tied together
Speaking, crying, whaling in foreign tongues

Thrown to the sharks in the dead of night
Were those who did not arrive
The conversation has changed between us
Even though the strong survived

Sold on the auction block by the pound
Families torn apart sent separate ways
Identities stolen as fathers and mothers cried
Screaming, kicking, fighting for their unborn tribes
Toby, Kizzy, boy, girl and Uncle Tom
Names assigned to the property; human stock
The conversation has changed between us
We no longer respect each other or care enough

Chained in the physical but spirits still free
Through cotton fields, the dark of night capture
Escaping through swamps and torrid rains
Looking for their mirror images
Their families they tried to reclaim

Jumping the broom with their Queens and Kings
Sneaking and teaching reading by candle light
Sending drum signals disguised as songs
Far across the plains
Late meetings in the dark of night
Holding on to faith, family and community
Full of courage all fought the fight
The conversation has changed between us
We no longer see ourselves
Not our history, struggles or passion
From where we’ve come to our current path
Is an swampy, murky well

No longer searching for families left behind
Jumping the broom with Queens
So passé it’s a crime
No longer sold on auction blocks
But traded yet the same
Women no longer Queens or mothers of the earth
Just carnage in the new dating game
The conversation has changed between us
As future generations slowly die
Like the notion of the wholesome “American Apple Pie”

Courtship and relationships
Why worry about such things
Jumping into one bed after another
Does not mean proposing or buying a ring
Forefathers looking down upon us
Dismayed by the lack of pride
The conversation has changed between us
Our judgment so compromised
The shackles that once bound us
May have been the last family ties
The conversation has changed between us
The doors slammed so tight
We’ve trading in our inheritance
And become the enemy of our own plight

Where are our Kings to lead our Queens?
Where are the families to bring back self esteem?
What example will our children see?
It’s a devastating reality
The conversation has changed between us
And WE ARE ALL to blame
Past mistakes, past regrets we can’t look back
Moving forward with a plan of mutual respect
Will begin to bridge the gap
The conversation has changed between us
But doesn’t have to stay the same
Take a stand for our future
STOP living in VAIN