He was very sincere this black man,
\ntalking about civil rights.
\nAbout where he had come from.
\nHow he stood out being of color,
\nand I felt my childhood drift ashore,
\nsomewhere in a boat,
\nout of cold mist,
\nout of the morning
\nwith the loon calling from the forest.
\nThe black man and I were twins.
\nI rose in the darkness,
\nand like a serpent shed my skin.
\nI became white as I lifted my oar,
\ncoming in on the water of soft fog.
\nAnd he and I parted.
\nHe kept his blackness like a trophy.
\nI lost mine like an adversity,
\na parting.<\/p>\n
He talks with a smile above great sadness.
\nI weep for him.
\nI cry for myself.
\nI cannot understand how the beach lost us.
\nHow morning rose above the mist
\nand we were alone.
\nHe was gone.
\nI was deserted and went with no faith
\ninto the reeds,
\nand the forest opened its arms,
\nand I forgot my brother
\nand my birth.
\nI forgot the great journey
\nof our planetary ship.
\nI forgot the pyramids we built,
\nand the armies we led.<\/p>\n
I wished only to go home
\nand take my brother with me,
\naway from his civil rights,
\nand his loneliness.
\nI missed him and our family of huge souls.
\nI had wandered away,
\nnot knowing how deep the loneliness
\nof my heart had become.
\nExcept I wanted his arms about me,
\ntwo brothers,
\nwho lost each other in that morning,
\namong the waves,
\nwhich never forgot our voices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
He was very sincere this black man, talking about civil rights. About where he had come from. How he stood out being of color, and…<\/p>\n