The Journey
By J.S. Ramkissoon
The story continues of the African man
Continuously travelling from land to land
His descendants are here, there and everywhere
Still cannot find a place of his own to claim
Each page captivating my mind with misery and shame
Still in chains after all these years
What cruelty! In bondage and pain
The story continues – it has no end
It’s the middle of the night; mother heard a cry
It’s the cry of the man she had loved all her life
Midnight strike and so did the knife –
Owned by those who walk not by the light
Awaken to the horror of a father’s fate
What shame and disgrace upon the race
Our ancestors would be ashamed
Little boy crying on the phone to his nan…
“Mother went to work but didn’t return”
The shed of an innocent blood –
yet another cry of an innocent child
Another motto of the street:
“… you’re done… no time to talk…time to use the gun..”
Time of weeping as tears soothe the pain
The journey continues but the scars remain
In a foreign land, trying to set a plan;
So I could have a future in the ‘promised’ land
My plan they took away – put it on display
As they give it a name and call it their own
Millions they make but not a cent will come my way
So, I continue to struggle: “boxing bread outa mouth”
Copyright © 2006 Janice S Ramkissoon
(First published (J.Cole 1994) in 'The Drum' a New Initiatives Newsletter)
