Millennia Ago, the Jews Were Slaves
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read
the poem as
an MP3 file.
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the poem as
an MP4 file.
Video and Audio Music:
Pouring Out.
By Asher Fulero.
Music free to use
at YouTube.
Poems
About
Nationality and Race
Copyright by
Nicholas Gordon
M illennia ago, the Jews were slaves,
A nd they never forgot it, nor should we.
R emembrance of things past is how one saves
T he lineage of one's identity.
I t was as slaves in Egypt that the Jews,
N ever more than tribes, became a nation,
L ike the separate, captive, black tribes whose
U nique ways fused through forced assimilation.
T heir nationality was born of pain,
H orror, heartache, torture, unspent rage,
E ach generation auctioned off in chains,
R aw wounds no balm could heal nor love assuage;
K in by rape to people not akin,
I nheriting their language, features, god,
N ot so much the privilege of their skin,
G oods and chattels in the Land of Nod.
J ust think: How might one such a past embrace?
R eject it, then: Would you your self erase?
A nd they never forgot it, nor should we.
R emembrance of things past is how one saves
T he lineage of one's identity.
I t was as slaves in Egypt that the Jews,
N ever more than tribes, became a nation,
L ike the separate, captive, black tribes whose
U nique ways fused through forced assimilation.
T heir nationality was born of pain,
H orror, heartache, torture, unspent rage,
E ach generation auctioned off in chains,
R aw wounds no balm could heal nor love assuage;
K in by rape to people not akin,
I nheriting their language, features, god,
N ot so much the privilege of their skin,
G oods and chattels in the Land of Nod.
J ust think: How might one such a past embrace?
R eject it, then: Would you your self erase?
Copyright by Nicholas Gordon. Free for personal or non-commercial use.
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