30/30
for my unknown ancestors
-----
We've come
from the four corners
of a shattered earth
to give birth
to a new direction
see I've had some time for reflection
and instead of constantly deflecting
rejection and hard knock lessons
I've learned to embrace the haters
and bring pain to the forefront
of my mind
so when I step to the mic
my voice echoes my grind
sharing stories of a time when my father
and my father's father
battled bigotry and slaved for incompetent slavemasters
to forge a better life for their sons to follow after
and that's me
born in the womb of one of Asia's most royal of queens
the Chinese
who built this country from barehands and sticks of dynamite
who slaved over steel snakes through the coldest of winter nights
whose skeletons sit in democracy's closet
they
are my bloodline, my namesake, my spotlight
highlighting years of oppression that gave way to
fears of rebellion
and now my people sit in Vancouver's Chinatown
laying tracks in their arms like they laid tracks for the nation
White arms that beat them down like slaves on a plantation
rockslides and gunshots causing racial devastation
and discrimination
giving birth to a generation
of warriors
born of great emperors
but now far away from home
outside the great wall
we found our mission
to be divine beings in a land stolen from native hands
to reconcile race and bond together brothers
see I pick up a hammer
but it's not to drive spikes
more so to nail the planks that hold this nation together
see our struggle
was here
and our pain
was severe
but the past is but now a distant memory
that only serves to inspire new strength within
we are one people
and this is our home
so let us now leave the legacy of brokenness behind us
and begin the long journey back
to our throne.
this.
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