The Check Is In the Mail

The Check is in the Mail Authored by Chuck Keys At the beginning there was no rain, Only the thundering noise and bright bolts of lightning. The trees and bushes trembled with the cold winds Pouring sheets of rain soon followed. The stones and the ground cover cringed, Everything echoed and shook from the hard driving forces present. There was no place to run or hide. God Was making his statement. There will be no peace tonight, Everything is in play. Someone is in pain, searing aching ever increasing pain, Like the agony of a toothache, thumping, pulsing, thud, thud, thud Louder and more intense with each breadth The body and spirit is consumed, tightly wrapped up, Absorbed in the discomfort of now. And it's not going away on its own. There will be no peace tonight, Everything is in play. He was stolen, placed in chains, 400 years ago, Brow beaten from the beginning, in and out Never allowed to be his own, Not like whites, he was property, owned and operated But different non-white, (why are we still talking of color?) Yet beings we all are. There will be no peace tonight, Everything is in play. We cry for what was taken but can never be returned Not wanting to be raised above or over, Wanting not a victory, but delivered equality. Through love and nonviolence Martin and they forged ahead, No more waiting for the check in the mail, But expecting the expected. There will be no peace tonight, Everything is in play. The storm is here and now. A debt of honor is due, With the passing of time, where is restitution? We accept love, education, pride and joy, We can't accept the hatred of crime, violence, The lack of housing and work, Pain never fades on its own. It needs attention. God’s values our values, The one constant, never becomes vague. Without compromise. Without compromise. There will be no peace tonight, Everything is in play. The storm continues with its blinding rage, Waiting for an answer, not patiently, but expectantly, There will be no peace tonight in their lives as in our hearts, Everything is in play.