Another Cruel Link in their Chain

         1.   Beginnings

Her babe was her joy, such a beautiful boy,

and he suckled her breast till the end.

The slaver sought cash, bestowed mammy a thrash,

sold her babe to a gentrified friend.

Yes, life flits like a flash, a lithe leathery lash,

yet another cruel link in their chain.

With mammy not there, Sammy dared not to dare

but to bide near the edge of the night.

Yet nevertheless one must always outguess

else absorb burning stings of the bite.

Yes, it flits like a flash, a lithe leathery lash,

yet another cruel link in their chain.

Though learning the rules in the shadows of fools

as he grew to a leery lean lad

he often defied but he never once cried

although whipped at the post whene’er bad.

Yes, it flits like a flash, a lithe leathery lash,

yet another cruel link in their chain.

2.   Youth

The cotton gin broke and nobody spoke,

so ol’ Massa said  “BENNY’S TO BLAME”.

But Sammy said ‘No...  Massa, jus’ cain’t be so,

no ’tain’t Benny, ’tain’t Benny’s sore name’.

Yes, it flits like a flash, a lithe leathery lash,

yet another cruel link in their chain.

“LOOK, SEE IN HIS EYES HOW THAT N*G*** BOY LIES!” 

- replied Sam ‘no I’s tellin da truth’.

But daring to speak earned him scars for his cheek

and thus blemished the bloom of his youth.

Yes, it flits like a flash, a lithe leathery lash,

yet another cruel link in their chain.

“THE COTTON GIN’S BROKE, AND THAT JUST AIN’T NO JOKE”

and he called upon Benny to pay:

“BENNY GOT NO EXCUSE, DRAPE HIS NECK WITH THE NOOSE”,

just as Sam feared ol’ Massa would say.

Yes, it flits like a flash, a lithe leathery lash,

yet another cruel link in their chain.

Black faces soon blanched as Ben bended a branch

near the base of a broken oak tree.

His body hung bare as it swung in the air

while the buzzards and crows shrieked with glee.

Yes, it flits like a flash, a lithe leathery lash,

yet another cruel link in their chain.

3.   Flight

Sam’s feet were unclad, as befitting the lad

(as alone as a stone in his path)

when  he started to run neath the sly sliding sun   

being followed and fearing God’s wrath.

Yes, it flits like a flash, a lithe leathery lash,

yet another cruel link in their chain.

Surrounded and caught brought his efforts to naught,

child in chains at the end of his trek;

winds wept as he went, with his spirit unbent,

a cold collar of steel ’round his neck.

Yes, it flits like a flash, a lithe leathery lash,

yet another cruel link in their chain.

“FLOG THE BOY FROM HIS TOES TO THE TIP OF HIS NOSE”

- only so could a lesson be taught -

for to set an example, Sam’s death might be ample

was what the ol’ Massa first thought.

Yes, it flits like a flash, a lithe leathery lash,

yet another cruel link in their chain.

But since boughten at birth, Sam had proven his worth

so his loss would be too much to bear

and as Sam was a child the ol’ Massa was mild,

said “ENOUGH” when Sam’s back was laid bare.      

Yes, it flits like a flash, a lithe leathery lash,

yet another cruel link in their chain.

4.   Life

Sam grew to a man, branded ‘boy’ by the clan,

as they spat on the trails that he tread;

should he dare raise his gaze with a gander that strays 

they’d be certain to sever his head.

Yes, it flits like a flash, a lithe leathery lash,

yet another cruel link in their chain.

Once Sam found a wife whom they ripped from his life,

yes along with the babe at her breast

(was it simply their greed or by heaven decreed?).

Well, with hindsight you might guess the rest.

Yes, it flits like a flash, a lithe leathery lash,

yet another cruel link in their chain.

5.   Destiny

From phantoms of fright neath the frail foggy night

Sammy soared as he fled to escape

and he no longer crawled (lady liberty called!) 

through the darkness, a black hole agape.

Yes, it flits like a flash, a lithe leathery lash,

yet another cruel link in their chain.

Unleashed! Frenzied dogs hounded Sam through the bogs,

(baying beasts neath the bloody red moon).

White fangs intermeshed as they mangled his flesh,

freedom flayed through the pale afternoon.

Yes, it flits like a flash, a lithe leathery lash,

yet another cruel link in their chain.

Sam’s body was torn leaving little to mourn

but there’s really no need to despair

and there’s no need to cry for his spirit can’t die,

being borne by bound men everywhere.

Yes, it flits like a flash, a lithe leathery lash,

yet another cruel link in their chain.

                          EPITAPH

                    SAM

Revolted and clashed ’gainst the cruel leather lash

and broke free from the choke of their chain.

                         EPILOGUE

Those parts of the past that we gaze at aghast

reveal harrowing questions quite plain �"

Why people quite free, just like you, just like me,

were so happy inflicting such pain?

Why we bask in the throes of humanity’s woes

while the tyrants and tyrannies reign? 

Why we sit back and watch, sometimes scratching our crotch, 

as it happens again and again?

And I’m wondering too (’cause I don’t have a clue),

might we each be a link in their chain?