I see you, as well as one can see
From across the divide
I listen to your stories,
I hear your cries — echoing
A time when our mothers and grandmothers danced
The metronome of their hearts synchronized to the same music
but subjected to different tides
Daughters of a revolution, fighting off colonial ties
Inspired to give birth on your land, seeded for crops
Breaking waters so that generations may carry on
Everlasting life, your promises no longer whispered
but roaring in, crashing against this hull
A ship that was only meant to keep you in, lost at sea
Forgetting whose womb it was they first sailed in
Not asking directions, but directing them
Starlets hushed and covered up, ever growing darker
In a well-lit land, they say the east is where the sun rises
Yet it always seems stuck in the middle of it, drying up
Thirsty and hungry, calling this resilience 'hardy'
You withstand all of which we do not understand
I find it nothing short of inspiring
I do not wish for your pain and suffering
As I let my hair down in solidarity
I imagine your daughters bringing in new life
Sons who do not forget the drumming
Where God's love first sounded from within
Rhythmic and embedded in their bones
The safe place and sturdy ground they once knew
Where the space between your legs was not shameful
But resonating, wet as morning dew
God's greatest masterpiece
From which all new life would be brought through
You are creators in spite of all you go through
Bearing the burden, the weight, you pull through
I see you, as well as one might see
From across the divide of our beliefs
The value of your lives I hold true
From across the divide
I listen to your stories,
I hear your cries — echoing
A time when our mothers and grandmothers danced
The metronome of their hearts synchronized to the same music
but subjected to different tides
Daughters of a revolution, fighting off colonial ties
Inspired to give birth on your land, seeded for crops
Breaking waters so that generations may carry on
Everlasting life, your promises no longer whispered
but roaring in, crashing against this hull
A ship that was only meant to keep you in, lost at sea
Forgetting whose womb it was they first sailed in
Not asking directions, but directing them
Starlets hushed and covered up, ever growing darker
In a well-lit land, they say the east is where the sun rises
Yet it always seems stuck in the middle of it, drying up
Thirsty and hungry, calling this resilience 'hardy'
You withstand all of which we do not understand
I find it nothing short of inspiring
I do not wish for your pain and suffering
As I let my hair down in solidarity
I imagine your daughters bringing in new life
Sons who do not forget the drumming
Where God's love first sounded from within
Rhythmic and embedded in their bones
The safe place and sturdy ground they once knew
Where the space between your legs was not shameful
But resonating, wet as morning dew
God's greatest masterpiece
From which all new life would be brought through
You are creators in spite of all you go through
Bearing the burden, the weight, you pull through
I see you, as well as one might see
From across the divide of our beliefs
The value of your lives I hold true