Ericka

Erica Child of our uncharted microtones Thrown through the dawn The maze of longing As she matures in black America The panther paying homage to the people Torn with the gun Television hero gone to madness Seeking the answer Can we endure? Mother Once freaked with acid Product of the new frontier Becomes the maiden lonely Hiroshima's cry, the horror Insane visions for her child Locked forever in her womb Seeking the answer Can we endure? Father Paints his nightmare A black sore of fear in technicolor A silver cup again, his youth The bare facts of existence Image of a black saint Whom Leroy calls the heaviest spirit Erica After this America Where humans wander wandering Do peace movements care? Her eyes, tender smile A flower garden, all gentle being Must she, Erica Endure visionless, alone? Rise up Alone, rise up Alone, rise up Alone, rise up Alone, rise up