Friday, June 11, 2004

22 and Counting


22 and Counting


To each of me
to love within the reach of me
and if this love can teach to me
why each of me, in turn,
should torture so the soul of me
and tear apart the whole of me
within life's play, each role of me
must speak to me ... must learn
that blackness and the white of me
are just the day and night of me
are not the wrong or right of me
can't you see -- there's got to be
some answer to this planet's pain
my microcosmic world -- insane!
if only I could make you see
it's here to see -- just look at me
there is within me all of you
from distant lands -- the whole of you
the dreams, the heart, the soul of you
if only you could see
that black and white are part of it
my brown is at the heart of it
and blending was the start of it
and someday it shall be
that blackness and the white of us
will be the day and night of us
and not the wrong or right of us
then we'll be free!



Betty Reid Soskin, copyright 1967
Berkeley, California