I once knew a child, soon to become a giant. His name was Moses Fearless

Born in chains, north of Charleston, South Carolina. Fatherless, at age of eight - the youngest among twelve

Whipped with no mercy each time he forgot to ask if master was doing well, or going ill. Remember: that’s how Dixie forged his iron will!

             ~~~

Wings of leather, teeth stronger than the roots of a willow tree

Picking cotton at a rate of fifty pounds per lashing. Later on he started breaking stones for a living

He ran away and joined a platoon of panthers, the very same day Ms Jones was hanged

“Don’t get lost looking for paradise. Sunrise won’t be bought or sold, at any price” were her last words

           ~~~

Moses would turn clay into life with a wooden knife, always bending the sky with kindness

Last time I met him he was whispering to the stars - his back was a map full of scars

He’d just spent six months behind bars for teaching Faith to read and write. Night was falling asleep, the Mississippi wept quietly

Dear mother, he was a brother of Hayward Shepherd. A pioneer, way before Haymarket - to pull the lever, a slave had first to pull the trigger!

           ~~~

To some, History may seem like a drunkard shooting dice, but rebellion was a necessity, a matter of unpostponable dignity

Hurry friends, Old John is waiting for us, the wild grass has grown Brown

The earth is about to give birth. Black Jack is but the first round, many more will come

Let the Bourbons tremble - next on line are the robber barons. We’ll be chopping down the weed and the rule of greed, all the way to Savannah

           ~~~

Beware, you hangmen and foremen, dripping blood behind a pale hood: Moses is coming to tear apart your nooses

His bones will keep on singing - the bells of civil war are ringing - until no more Black bodies are swinging from the treetops

We pledge allegiance to the propertyless. Their defiance is our banner - their rise will be our republic!

The ferry needs more volunteers - creating a nation of the free is no vacation of short duration, summer soldiers won't do

            ~~~

We are but the first generation. Be sure we’ll fight a hundred years from now

I once knew a man, a hummingbird lighter than a dewdrop - a ray of light on horseback, almost weightless

His name was Moses Fearless!