Alive and Drowning

Heaven lies beneath the bottom of the sea, below the grains.

The weight of our chains guides us to the pearly gates under the sand.

Hell lies at the shoreline, its porcelain fingers beckoning.

They set foot on the burning coals, their feet raw and pink,

We set foot on sand six feet under.

They walk along the plains of fire and pain, their backs raw and pink,

Their chains carry them into the pits of flames, the metal scarring their children.

We are alive, standing beneath the waves, totems for the fish to see

We are drowning, freedom tastes of salt and floods our lungs

They are dead, standing on ebony earth building ivory towers

Their lungs are filled with poison, a poison that keeps them from us

We die on the seabed our mother has made for us

Their children will live on land they will call home

Their children will believe that home is where they do not belong

The home they build will not shelter them but instead swallow them alive

The more they struggle the deeper they will sink, backs and feet forever raw and pink

The weight of our chains guides us to the pearly gates under the sand

We are alive and drowning, but our chains will rust and break.