The shackles are now voluntary |
Isn't it ironic to celebrate something we've forgotten? Juneteenth, Juneteenth, we cry When slavery ended! And then we turn our eyes downward to our mobile phones Instead of upward to the sky. We ignore the baby gurgling The child wanting to play The pet needing a loving word The book waiting to be read We ignore the garden the forest, the paths we once walked. The 'beep' is a more urgent call than bird song. We are slaves to the forwards and the memes those thieves of hours. Juneteenth, Juneteenth, we cry When slavery ended! And then we pay plastic money for plastic things we don't need because we are slaves to the advertisements and to keeping up with the Joneses, whoever the Joneses might be. Juneteenth, Juneteenth, we cry When slavery ended! And then we kill animals for fashion and we shame those who look different because we are slaves to our insecurity and to the age old belief that beauty is really skin deep. Juneteenth, Juneteenth, we cry When slavery ended! And we don't recognize it anymore Because we put the shackles on voluntarily and all the locks are on the inside but the keys haven't yet been made. Juneteenth, Juneteenth, we cry Can we end slavery today? About Juneteenth ▼ |