Children, I come back today
To tell you a story of the long dark way
That I had to climb, that I had to know
In order that the race might live and grow.
Look at my face -- dark as the night
Yet shining like the sun with love's true light.
I am the dark girl who crossed the red sea
Carrying in my body the seed of the free.
I am the woman who worked in the field
Bringing the cotton and the corn to yield.
I am the one who labored as a slave,
Beaten and mistreated for the work that I gave
Children sold away from me, I'm husband sold, too.
No safety , no love, no respect was I due.

Three hundred years in the deepest South:
But God put a song and a prayer in my mouth .
God put a dream like steel in my soul.
Now, through my children, I'm reaching the goal.

Now, through my children, young and free,
I realized the blessing deed to me.
I couldn't read then. I couldn't write.
I had nothing, back there in the night.
Sometimes, the valley was filled with tears,
But I kept trudging on through the lonely years.
Sometimes, the road was hot with the sun,
But I had to keep on till my work was done:
I had to keep on! No stopping for me
I was the seed of the coming Free.
I nourished the dream that nothing could smother
Deep in my breast -- the Negro mother.
I had only hope then , but now through you,
Dark ones of today, my dreams must come true:
All you dark children in the world out there,
Remember my sweat, my pain, my despair.
Remember my years, heavy with sorrow
And make of those years a torch for tomorrow.
Make of my pass a road to the light
Out of the darkness, the ignorance, the night.
Lift high my banner out of the dust.
Stand like free men supporting my trust.
Believe in the right, let none push you back.
Remember the whip and the slaver's track.
Remember how the strong in struggle and strife
Still bar you the way, and deny you life
But march ever forward, breaking down bars.
Look ever upward at the sun and the stars.
Oh, my dark children, may my dreams and my prayers
Impel you forever up the great stairs
For I will be with you till no white brother
Dares keep down the children of the Negro Mother.

Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So, boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps.
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

O thou, my lovely boy, who in thy power
Dost hold Time's fickle glass his fickle hour;
Who hast by waning grown, and therein show'st
Thy lovers withering, as thy sweet self grow'st.
If Nature, sovereign mistress over wrack,
As thou goest onwards, still will pluck thee back,
She keeps thee to this purpose, that her skill
May Time disgrace, and wretched minutes kill.
Yet fear her, O thou minion of her pleasure!
She may detain, but not still keep her treasure.
Her audit, though delayed, answered must be,
And her quietus is to render thee.

As I look into the casket,
I see my reflection inside,
Around me I notice familiar faces weeping,
Then my father appeared at my side.

He takes me to moments
Through out my entire life,
Beginning with my 1st birthday,
Until the very moment in which I died.

Then he said "Son, I am disappointed,
For the things you have done and said,
You left your mother worried,
Praying that you were not dead."

"You seem to have taken for granted
The life that was so preciuosly given to you.
Look around you very carefully,
These are the people that you knew".

I asked with great confusion,
"What has happened to me?"
"Is there a reason that I am here?"
This I asked as I stood in disbelief.

He then replied,
"Now you will learn that there are people that care."
"I left you behind without saying I Love You,
I know that wasn’t fair."

"There was a fight between your mother and I,
One you did not happen to see,
But I pleaded with God to show my love
That I had so strongly for you,
That you would not die just like me."

"Things do happen for a reason,
This is true, but out of our reach.
So in return for my desperate plea,
This is the lesson I was sent to teach."

"Soon I’ll be gone and you will wake up in your bed,
Remember in your heart every word I’ve said."
"You’ve been fortunate enough to recieve another chance.
Now step back from the casket and take a second glance."

"The people you see gathered here
Are the ones that truly do care.
So appreciate them and show them your love.
For there is no promise that tomorrow will be there."

My angel has a heart so precious,
and sometimes her hair shines of gold.
She is full of love and kindness,
she makes my life meaningful and bold.

My angel is so smart,
always showing me the right way.
Without her I'd be lost,
I know she'll never lead me astray.

My angel is beautiful,
she is so special and like no other.
I love her,
for my angel is my mother.

As a son I lost a father,
As a father, a son -
If the choice was mine I'd rather
Had not lost either one.

I do not know where I come from
Or where I am to go.
True, this fate is less than some
And more than some can know.

My father, my son - you both I miss
But we shall meet someday
In the kingdom where angels kiss
To chase the clouds away.

Wedding Poems