fiddy'leven

how much is owed
to those who wore
the chains who tilled
the land who nursed
the babes who mixed
the grits who fried
the food who chopped
the wood who picked
the bolls who ran
the road who fought
the war who shared
the crop who made
the name who wore
the noose who Blacked
the codes who sparked
the schools who juked
the blues who showed
the soul who left
the south who stayed
the course who caught
the hell who marched
the march who broke
the strike who struck
the blow who took
the vote who held
the hood who housed
the club who queered
the notes who spun
the jams who funked
the flow who built
the thing who built
the thing who built
the thing? you know.

take the payment
you ain’t give
for all that & press
it down, make it
overflow fiddy’leven
times & gimme that.
in my own numbers
of my own currency.