“Breath of My Ancestors”
(The Hurricane)

There’s this truth must be told
its force can’t be contained
About the history and the mystery
in the rage of hurricanes
For you must know the reasons
why the gale force winds do blow
And disburse their vicious vengeance
on southeastern States below
See the bodies of my people
through the Middle Passage came
As cargo in slave ships
so a beast could lay quitclaim
And their limbs were battered and broken
by a heathen with no shame
Who stole us from our homes
then promptly changed our names
Now the laws of cause and effect
so appropriately germane
Come collecting unpaid taxes
in the form of hurricanes
You thought our spirits were beaten
you thought our spirits were tamed
But instead of us defeatin’
God’s temper you inflamed
Now retribution comes to visit
on the winds of hurricanes
Storm clouds gather over Africa
full of slavery’s suffering and pain
They marshal their momentum
full of vengeful hard black rain
Dead-set upon America
as if possessed, insane
Since all those cries for mercy
fell on deaf ears in vain
You must feel the wrath
and the fury of hurricanes
For the girls you stole from Senegal
and the boys from the Ivory Coast
The spirit of their ancestors
haunt Carolinians most
Cause of all the slave-ship harbors
in the many ports of call
Yours were the most insidious
the evilest of them all
And for all you island dwellers
to whom this verse pertains
Your shores made shelter for sellers
of human beings in chains
Thus the Breath of My Ancestors
forge a spiritual weather vane
That plots a course of sorrow
via the gale of hurricanes
In cargo holes
you laid 80 million souls
Like spoons in kitchen cabinets
But now the winds blow down
your trailer towns
Leaving tents to pitch and maggots.
And the law of just requital
extracting its just do
Says you must pay
for the games you play
Virginia and Florida too
So, if the next gale wind you hear
evokes real fear
And the terror seems inhumane
It’s just the Breath of My Ancestors
in the spirit of the hurricane.
Copyright Ty Gray-EL September 2000
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Possessed By My Anscestors

Glocks in my hand, they ready to spit
I aint talkin about foolishness or media hype shit

I'm talkin about our Anscestors who came from across the sea
The ones rich in color who look like you and me

The owned the knowledge about the past and how to build
They shared it freely why did they have to be killed

Listen to what they are saying they are showing you the truth
If you open your hearts and ears your mind will be free
it will be set loose

Our Anscestors are grieving at all the mess we've learned
They know what happened to us they know we've been burned

Don't turn away from them come and sit at their feet
They will lead us in the path we will no longer be asleep

They paid with their blood their suffering for us
Can't you hear them pleading crying listen to us

If you turn away there is nothing I can do
But know the oyinbo are going to pay they will suffer and burn too

You can cast your lot with yurugu
But know when they suffer you will suffer too

Listen to the elders the wise men of old
They won't lead you astray they'll bring you out of the cold

I'm no good at ryhming but I know the Anscestors spake
They watch over us because of love's sake

Peace Ifayomi
I am an enigma

Nehisi,

Another great post...reminds me of something we were talking about in my class. Also reminds me of a recent dream I had.

"WIAW!"