In The Darkness

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"Sing!"

The word tore through
The silence.

A silence as thick
As the darkness
That wrapped around us.

A darkness
Inhabited by people
Equally as dark.

"Sing and raise us
From these shackles,
From our misery,
From our fears,
From our reality!"

This command
Was not for me,
But the woman
Who sat in a distant corner.

Her voice rose
Like the sun,
Steady and slow
Warming our souls.

The clarity of her voice
Was like a dew drop
Magnifying the lines on a leaf
Upon which it sat.

Her voice was as beautiful
As an orchid,
And like an orchid
It was a parasite,
But instead of a tree or plant,
It got it's sustenance
From her soul.

And still
It was not enough.

"Stop, stop,
STOP!!!"

"I do not want to hear
A song as sweet as
A ripe mango or
A freshly chopped sugar cane."

"I want to hear a song
That is rich in pain
As well as triumph.
A song drenched
In the tears of brave men
And steeped in the sorrow
Of their women folk."

"I want our song."

The silence stretched
Like a sunset
Under a cloud heavy sky.

Then the song began,
A song we all knew.
A song that had brought
Tears to the eyes of kings.
A song that grew courage
In the hearts of cowards.

The song was infectious,
Leaping from man to woman
And woman to man
Like a great sickness
Found deep in the jungle.

Before long,
Voices rose into the darkness,
Vibrations bouncing off of
Unseen walls crashed against
Or bodies.

In this moment,
We were one.
One voice.
One people.
Bound for one place
And from that moment
We shall remain
One people.

One people
In the darkness.


To be honest, every time I read this poem I get teary eyed which is rare for me. Every now and then, I write a poem that hits a nerve for me. This is one of those poems.