Millennia Ago, the Jews Were Slaves

A poem for Martin Luther King’s birthday about the need to embrace even a past of slavery and torture: Millennia ago, the Jews were slaves, And they never forgot it, nor should we. Remembrance of things past is how one saves The lineage of one's identity. It was as slaves in Egypt that the Jews, Never more than tribes, became a nation, Like the separate, captive, black tribes whose Unique ways fused through forced assimilation. Their nationality was born of pain, Horror, heartache, torture, unspent rage, Each generation auctioned off in chains, Raw wounds no balm could heal nor love assuage; Kin by rape to people not akin, Inheriting their language, features, god, Not so much the privilege of their skin, Goods and chattels in the Land of Nod. Just think: How might one such a past embrace? Reject it, then: Would you your self erase?