Binds that Tie

Eva's hands were tied
when Mother
was pulled off the ship
and for her beauty
traumatised beyond knowing
seized in her fight to survive
and keep the blood of the womb
flowing for generations
she trained her young
in knowing ignorance
hoping they would wake
implanting songs from
other worlds and other lands
in her children's minds as lullabies

Her daughter's hands were tied
when the first master went into a house
shrouded in darkness
she did not give up her ghost
she gave up her mind
and hardened herself
as she was stripped of tatters
and patchwork
she left her tenderness on the ground
to rise in a power foreign to her nature
Her man stood helpless
He could not protect her

Her daughter's daughter hands were tied
the moment freedom rang
and integration was mistaken for assimilation
decadence gained
was ownership lost
and in the end all she came up with
was debt and desire for more things
dress, move, walk and talk like them
and you too will have made it into
the "Dream"
all the breeding back and forth
dark to light
light to dark
created confusions that made
the Mother's tears flow
The goal had been accomplished
her daughters were bound
unable to find the Mother in their land
they could not draw the scent of her footprints
from the soil they stood upon
they could not follow her back home

The line of the blood flowed
weakened
until a daughter was born
who looked back into the eyes of the first Mother
then to the eyes of her children
whose lines could not be drawn straight
lost
this daughter shook the blood in her veins
until it frothed
looking for the reasons her hands were tied
unable to find branches
she followed swirls
unable to pull the truth from her blood
she cried to the heavens

"If there is a God that hears
help me find the binds that tie
tie me to minds that keep me from
calling the earth
tending the sea
healing the sky
and living this life
and if there's not
may my eyes open to all the light
to honor the life I live"