The Unguarded Cage

I cannot help but feel the pain
Of what I want and want in vain.
The bricks, the bombs, the fire next time
Have a reason and indeed a rhyme.

I watch the boredom grow in the mind,
Black man lynched time after time.
Rats run thick, chains drag the clay.
There’s a voice somewhere, “One day, one day!”

I see the subtleties of a thousand deeds,
A soul cast out of the garden to the weeds.
An orphan is born and in a song
I found the words, “It won’t be long.”

I watch them as they go to class
Pushing aside the pain felt last,
But never completely hiding the wound.
A voice is heard, “Soon, man, soon!”

I watch him walk the building halls
And gaze upon the plastered walls.
I watch him as his eyes meet mine.
A voice inside says, “It’s time, it’s time!”

The sirens sound, the light is bright.
Blood runs free in a scream-filled night.
“It’s a shame!” “It’s horrible!” History marks the date,
When a voice cried out, “Too late, too late.”

I see the avalanche of blackened souls
And plots of ground where grass now grows,
And though a dream and heard in the past
A voice cries out, “Free at last!”