The blood of my ancestors
runs through my veins like the
waters of the Apalachee
more shallow in some spots
but unable to be disconnected
my people come from Ireland and Poland
as much as they did from Africa and Honduras
I am the brethren of those slain
and those that committed the slayings
so when I lend my pen and my voice
to bringing hope back
to build a bridge of peace
than that is I trying to
run through each sides history
just like that river
running down yonder
where the blood of my brethren was shed
at the hands of my brethren
because I be
some of this and some of that
proud to say that that comingling
is what invented "black"
and there can be no right
til it's understood we are also
in the bloodlines part "white"
so to say that we seek this
for just one side of the family tree
is impossible for me to see
because when I look in the mirror
I know what runs through me
and he and she and we
that once divided us because of
what we think we see
but that ain't how it has to be
because blood runs like a river
always coming from somewhere else
and ending up someplace new
picking up pieces of where we've been
as we over time ramble and ripple
our way through

this was a mission I had no choice in
it's a part of who I am and something I had to do