Magma Chamber

Upon us spews the lava

Of a hateful culture risen

The magma slowly hardens

In these deepening divisions

 

Walls that form around us

Fashioned from the remnant rubble

Freshly toppled monuments

Of the Jim Crow bubble

 

Once our countrymen picked cotton

That’s now shoved in many ears

To shut out the guilt they’re feeling

From choosing not to hear

 

It’s easy to say past is past

It feels better to be blameless

The louder one shouts “not my fault”

The quicker they get famous

 

They insert words into rival mouths

And in their cohorts heads

So that any hopes of a peaceful end

are cruelly whipped instead