”Honestly and painfully I admit, I’ve been asleep at the proverbial wheel of the fight for justice in the U.S., particularly for PoC. I’m living in the predominantly white south, far removed from the culture that raised me. With an invigorated sense of identity and purpose, I have written a series of transparent assessments of recent events and my emotional response to them. ‘Waking Up’ describes the process of being asleep, waking up, and finding meaning.” (Bobby Alexandre)
TITLE
Written by Bobby Alexandre (ASCAP), Ryan James Carr (ASCAP)
© 2020 Common Hymnal Publishing (ASCAP), Out Word (ASCAP), Ryan James Carr (ASCAP) (admin by CapitolCMGPublishing.com)
Fruitless sleep
Wake-less ignorance
Like running from time
Or digging the sky
Emotionless. Motionless.
Resting blissfully. Awoken Bitterly.
To realize we have experienced ears
And virgin hearts
To never feel like this before.
To be re-booted:
The zest of being refreshed
and fitted with new shoes.
To sleepwalk for so long
and stumble through the night—
how humbling the light
I turn my face with hand upraised
overwhelmed by the rays of truth
That illuminate injustice
Squinting my eyes
Then when forcing them open
I’m incensed
My fist now clenched
Hangs in the air
As a beacon for those that follow
Lady liberty, no torch
We suffer violence
And the violent take it by force