By L. Craig Williams
SCARSDALE, New York —
Are we forever in Egypt?
Can we never reach the Promised Land
But only yearn for it
Longing to cross over, to arrive,
To celebrate the dignity and worth
Of every tribe and every man and every woman
To be one and to grant Us-ness
To all?
We have not redeemed.
Many among us still suffer
And we and they are plagued
By the same plagues that failed to move Pharaoh’s heart.
The Plague of Blood
That runs through our streets and fields
Brought into our midst
By guns and knives and needles and gangs
No divine intervention this
But a declaration of wants by men and women.
The Plagues of Pestilence and Boils
That course across all ages and kinds
Of dark-skinned people
And our elderly
Who struggle to breathe
Struggle to eat scarce vegetables instead of abundant sugars
Whose diabetes shortens their lives
While emptying their pocketbooks
In a rationed health care “system” unworthy of the word “system.”
The Plague of a Hail of Bullets
Which tear into homes and people
With random and reckless lack of logic or purpose
Ruining the health and lives of those they meet
While foolish people cry freedom and Amendments
The poor and the dark die in droves
We celebrate an armed public
Who invest more in guns
Than in schools.
The Death of the First Born, the Next Born, and All Born
We peddle oxy, crack and H
And then jail them for using it
Scoundrels make billions shoving
Vicodin into the mouths of the poor
Then put their names on galleries in museums.
We ghetto the poor in substandard housing
Let them drink water laced with lead
Ensure that they can’t breathe
And then kill them while they moan
“I can’t.”
Have we become Pharaoh
While chasing the American Dream?
Unwittingly looked away and not seen
Those sleeping in the streets
While their children are moved
From homeless shelter to SRO
And never learn to read.
Where are our outstretched arms?
We cannot wait for the Messiah
To redeem us from this slavery
To redeem our fellow men and women
From us.
We are Pharaoh
If we do not stop this
We must let these people go
To become our equals
Our fellow men and women
Our people
Us.
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© 2021 L. Craig Williams, who is an author and lecturer on human resources and on aspects of modern history, the Shoah and racial justice.