On the banks of the Mississippi, <br />we fished for catfish <br />with a bent pin on a string. <br />We sat in ragged trousers <br />patched and tied at the waist with string. <br />We watched the paddle steamers gorged with passengers <br />waving as they passed our way. <br />In those summer days of our childhood <br />many years into yesterday. <br />With innocent eyes, <br />we watched the world turn. <br />Saw the sadness in our daddy’s eyes, <br />watched the sweat run over his ebony muscles, <br />and heard him cry in our mammy’s arms <br />when a day’s work was done. <br />We saw the boss man whip him <br />under a blazing sun. <br />Saw the scars on indignation across his back <br />and heard the mournful songs they sang <br />at the closing of the day <br />in the summer of our childhood <br />many years into yesterday. <br />Then the world turned harsh and bitter. <br />At sixteen, they stole your virginity <br />and they also stole my soul. <br />Worked us like cattle <br />from sunrise until sundown. <br />Tried to break our spirit <br />and drive us deep into the ground. <br />The paddle steamers still chugged <br />through the muddy waters <br />as they did in those summer days of our childhood <br />many years into yesterday. <br />With manhood and womanhood reached, <br />we were sold on cattle market day. <br />New masters were found <br />and we were used as breeding stock <br />as our daddy and mammy were <br />in those summer days of our childhood <br />many years into yesterday. <br />My scars of indignation <br />are burnt deep within my soul <br />that they made a rebel out of me. <br />In silence, you will mourn your brother <br />now hanging from a tree, <br />and always remember our times together <br />in those summer days of our childhood <br />many years into yesterday. <br /> <br />13-14 March 2009<br /><br />David Harris<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/many-years-into-yesterday/
