A New Day- The Same Day

12:01p.m.
1692
Born into a new world;
Born in the new world-
With a smack on the bottom
A lash on the back
Scars from being dragged through thickets of the brush on the Ivory Coast
500 years ago.

12:02 p.m.
1863
Born 171 years ago today;
In the shadows of the whips, chains, and screams; of ascending cotton-
The towering overseers, angry dogs, and dreams of freedom
Hungry and mad feeding on kibbles of my fear.

12:03 p.m.
1916
Post civil war during reconstruction, rebirth.
Dreams of riding with Garvey, WEB, and Booker T.
Cruising on a Dreamliner
Steaming back home to the Coast
Seeking medicine to heal slavery’s scars.

12:04 p.m.
1937
Immersed in a renaissance;
Happily dizzily wandering and wondering
Through a concrete maze called Harlem.
Believing Our Eyes are Watching God and have been for centuries.

12:05 p.m.
1963
Singing ”We shall overcome”
Proclaiming “I have a Dream.”
The dogs in pursuit
271 years to the day;
Marching northward-still with that heavenly star as my guide.

Rest at 12:06 pm tomorrow
With history so fresh in the collective consciousness;
Its fervor sustains and emboldens
The hope for the future.
As a bee unknowingly transports nectar from flower to flower,
These experiences enrich and empower my negritude
With memories to share
With an evolving culture.

On the 333rd birthday,
The celebration, milestone, and evolution of the new American me-
Watching for water cannons and for dogs to attack
And opportunity’s ladders to climb to freedom.