Here, I Stand

Loving, fighting... It's all I've ever done. Against odds etched in slabs, but here I stand. Where my ancestors worked themselves to death, and received no land. Bought with by baubles from natives who perceived no scam. Here, I stand - thriving in a desert where opportunities are the sands, and originality the oasis. In fear of brass, since bullets seek to keep my thesis in stasis, but here I stand. Because my uncles were killed at sit - ins, and I want to see my enemies...in the eye. I stand here, 'cuz face down's how my kin used to die.

But standing here is not enough, I must move forward. My survival was written in stone, but my success has no blueprint, I must move forward. Subsidized loans provide shelter, but not a people's movement, I must move forward. Between sand dunes' harsh crests, civilization's are cradled - I must move forward. Pieces of lead took my leaders, I will lead in their stead - my passions enabled, I must move forward. Forward, past blaming others for my misfortune. I must move forward - no longer gazing into the evening, but pressing toward the morning...But here..I stand.