tho all my bones be broken

“I had been fortified by trauma, the way a bone, once broken, grows back
stronger than it had been.” ―Charles Blow, Fire Shut Up in My Bones


i nurse no fear
nor do i crave one favour      
when as a man
i stand up for my right
let me be clear
an heritage of labour
no caravan
affords me in the night

but this i know
the blood from me forced-taken
spills not in vain
my spirit in the earth
the overflow
shall leave me not forsaken
tho now the strain
diminishes my worth

for i shall rise
tho all my bones be broken
the more to live
beyond death’s usurious hands
tho he devise
a lie boastfully spoken
God’s righteous sieve
Shall filter him as sand

© Copyright 2020 July 22
by Clyve A. Bowen♫