Beauty Rises from the Ashes, Photograph by April Koehler
I have heard the voices of
The voices of my sisters,
And I have heard the voices of
The voices of my brothers,
Echoing loudly in the canyons of time,
Crying for freedom in rhythm and rhyme,
Joining together in a deafening roar,
Imploring the stiff-necked to open the door.
I have seen the sorrow of
So many generations,
Whose lives and loves have bled upon
The altar of the white man’s god;
Black souls reduced to bodies,
Returned to earth too soon –
“How long, O Lord, how long!” I cry,
O, let the time be nigh!
In memoriam:
Cynthia Hurd
Susie Jackson
Ethel Lance
Rev. DePayne Middleton-Doctor
The Honorable Rev. Clementa Pinckney
Tywanza Sanders
Rev. Daniel Simmons Sr.
Rev. Sharonda Singleton
Myra Thompson
Categories: Culture/Social issues, Poetry, Race/Ethnicity
Life Reconsidered - Judy Wu Dominick 
Amen.