amazin grace...for the late rev lucius walker...
by Zayid Muhammad
“Amazin grace…How sweet the sound…
That saved a soul like me…
I was once was lost…
Now I’m fighting to be free…
Only struggle
Will save you and me…”*
“Yea, though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death;
I fear no evil; For thou art with me
Thy rod and Thy staff
They comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me
in the presence of mine enemies.
Thou anointest me with oil;
My cup runneth over…
Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life; And I shall dwell
in the house of the Lord forever…”Psalm 23
the time has come
the trumpet has sounded
that miles as in davis muted trumpet has sounded
his name has been called
Luuuuucius!
Lucius Walker!
The gateway has been presented
and this man
this modest samaritan man
this man
this fearless mount of courage and faith of a man
this daniel audacious amazin grace of a man
he has ascended that stairway to heaven
received by the God he so valiantly served
to the ultimate delightful chorus
‘job well done, my son…job well done…’
and for us still here in the land of the living
and for those coming behind us
for this man
for this heroic humanitarian
we must monumentally mark his place in this time
to radiate the lessons of light of his enormous example…
so give me a truckload of bibles
in english spanish creole and french
give me a bushel of the ripest olive branches
give me crates upon crates upon crates
of medicines and medical supplies
so we can make a late 20th century
early 21st century balm in gilead…
give me a caseload of bloodied bonebroken bullets and shrapnel
as evidence of the evil of oppression
made in the usa
give me a column Zapatistas covering the rear
as surrogate angels...
“Thy road and Thy staff, they comfort me…”
give me prime photos of his wife children and grandchildren
give me a chessboard dominated by battling bishops
and a line of willing volunteers to be sacrificed
give me a hemispheric huge harvest
of yams corn apples lentils leeks
of oranges mangoes pineapples
yucca and beets
give me fish and loaves of bread
and give me flour yeast and hearth ovens
to bake our own
give me enuf righteous roasted lamb
to feed all the villages he served
that had been denied the fruits of their own sacred labor…
“…Thou preparest for me a table in the presence of mine enemies…”
for his chocolate eyed charm
for his awesome absence of ego and vanity
for his che’ like capacity to lead without commanding
for this man
for this peoples redeemer
this shining samaritan
this humble heroic humanitarian
we need huge broken tablets of unjust laws
broken by armies of the faithful that he led
we need a tall rugged cross
stained with the blood of martyrs
like camilo cienfuegos, martin luther king and bishop romero
we need all those made missing by the death squads to be found
we need david walker’s appeal
martin’s letter from a birmingham jail
che’s socialism and man
we need fidel-full analyses
of all the political minefields and crosscurrents
we still must confront
we need broadcasts of insurgent commentary by mumia abujamal
we need a huge toilet and a flushing of the waste of the blockade!
we need mumia free…
we must enshrine that little yellow school bus
with the wheelchairs of the fasters
we need video footage of baffled abusive overseers at the borders
we need doctors without borders
willing to dance with the patients they treat
we need a huge cup runneth over with faith courage love and hope
and we need lots and lots of witnesses
organized to continue…
for this man
for this daniel audacious man
this marvelous mount of courage and faith
this shining samaritan
this heroic humble humanitarian
this chocolate eyed charming amazin grace of man
we need commitment
we need commitment
we need commitment
congalleros!**
to the front!..
“The Lord is my shepard; I shall not want…”
“We refuse to back down
We will fight to the end
Revolution
Revolution
is near…”
*lyrics from Yasmin Adeigbola’s poetic retake on Amazin’ Grace
**congalleros…spanish for conga players
©2010 all rights reserved
‘bro.zayid’
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