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Dark n Beautiful Dec 2018
Give A Little : I take a Little

I am the daughter of a sharecropper
I am the real granddaughter of Netta
I am the element of surprises
Sadness and gladness is a part of my being
I give a little, I take a little and I
Pay the price and make the sacrifice:

I am the daughter of a sharecropper,
Back on the hills where the zephyr winds only
Last, for a nanosecond: while
Hiding away from the warm air:
this young child survive:

I am the daughter of a sharecropper,
I sing the songs of the old calypsonians
In memories of my ancestors as they
Sings and mocked their slave masters
Even beyond the grave:

Sadness and gladness is a part of their memories
I give a little, I take a little and I
Pay the price and make the sacrifice,
I have the scars to justified,
the other man white lies:
I felt the pain, in the cold rain,

I am the daughter of a sharecropper,
The granddaughter of Netta,
The element of surprises,
Here I am today still feuding with my choices
that I have come to make...….
Waverly Dec 2011
My people
are the kind
that were
sharecroppers.

From the dirt
of North Carolina.

They pulled themselves
up
by
tilled mounds
with boots
always pressing down
on their knuckles.

Somehow they rose.

The sky turned its
bluest
with
punches rolling
in from the west.

Punches
cold
and
steel.

But somehow
they didn't
escape to the rivers
and no
new nooses
found their necks.

With
small crumbles
of dirt
clinging
to their backs
they shook off
that universe
of roots
and
boots.

But I am not of them.

I realize that now.

I do not
have the resolve.

When I think of the generations
of powerful flowers
before me
I look in the mirror
and see myself
clean
with no memory
of fingers
that used to know
black gold.

Constantly searching
for that
patch
of tilled black earth
inside of me,
I am dying
with a new noose
around my neck.
The volition of Augusta planter and blacksmith ..
Elberton Pulp-wooder and Quarryman .. The song of the steam fired engine , back breaking labor of Tifton Sharecropper and Atlanta Iron -worker ..
To the heat lightning of the humid Georgia night , the cold rain of
November , the unsure , bitter turbulent shrieking winds of March ..
The first turn of the Albany Ploughman , to the evening whistle of Macon Factory worker . To dawns horizon goes the Brunswick Shrimper , to the honor of Cattleman and Savannah Tugboat tender ...
Copyright March 23 , 2016  by Randolph L Wilson * All Rights Reserved

My Georgia heroes ..
James Davis Sep 2013
Speak with passion, never live a life of God with any fear
14 years is a fortnight of tears,
I go to sleep, just to see if your image still appears
My disassociation of my peers
Changed my way, but got stuck in my gears
If the ending is near, I die with no fears
The pain inside is a guiding light
I grip to every secret insecurities with all my might
Just to be judged by man that I'm not living right
My critics are angels in the light but devils in the musk of the night
I believe true vision doesn't come from just from our eyesight
I just love the thought of living more than if I'm going to die tonight
A man dies inside if he has no work, you can cut down the tree, but the roots are still in the dirt
Although, my father, your body rest easy in the midst of this earth
My success is only the trickle from the top of the product of your work.
Never see a limitation, only imagine the celebration
Conscience ******* of the mind of a people who were ostracized by our own nation
Memories of our time, often leaves my young mind so vacant
So I get on my knees, and thank God that you made him
I didn't know back then how precious is each day
From a sharecropper to a degree to from Penn State, life is only a code if you know how to crack safes.
One life you get, I promise I'll never waste it
Your no longer here, but thank you God that you made him.  
Rest in peace, Mason Land Sr. The greatest grandfather a man could ever pray for.
Kaley Smith Sep 2015
His mind is cotton poetry
On a hard delta plane,
kissing my thoughts and
helping me remember
love
Eternally toiling
Under Golden blessings,
he calls me sharecropper.
Picking his thoughts
and weaving new ideas,
I imagine life
as a dream.
When the awakening comes,
will we be with the sun,
or will it just be
Me?
Falling for an "atheist"
Cotton is truly King ,--from Blue Ridge to Southern border , creator of fortune ,  remedy to pain and struggle  ,  dividing---  pitting neighbor against neighbor ,  market afire funding Sheriffs and  constable , alive and rampant among elderly , teenager , public official ......
King Cotton reintroducing malignant , corruption , nay from yesteryear at mercy of whip and chain ,slave and sharecropper ,  but to the gun , homelessness and the horror of merciless addiction....................
Cotton . A southern crop for over 150 years recalls a dark period in Georgia. Slavery and sharecropping. Cotton is also slang for a modern problem as well in rural Georgia.... The abuse of Oxycontin pain medicine....
BL Ledford Feb 2015
From a kind North Alabama family
Traveling north across the Appalachia hills to settle in neighborhood built for Mr. Dupont's industry.

Your mother - the child of a sharecropper,
Father - a soldier and a baker.

Raised on Sears catalogues and baseball fields.
Instilled with a obvious desire for peace.

Fell in love with my sister,
Treat her like a queen.
Always taking good care of my mama and my wife.

You have searched for wallets in the rain,
Gave your winnings to my mother for a set of new tires.

Always casting a net to the lost who are in some pain.

There was many times you are the spine that held the pages of this families strength together.

The silent voice that calms the wild,
Your actions are worth a million words.

Thank you for the plane tickets home,
Thank you for the bed to sleep,
Thank you for the food on our plate,
Thank you for picking me up as I was stranded on the side of the road.
Thank you for your punch to the lip when I had stepped over the line.

Thank you for the calming of a family that sometimes is out of control.

I admire your selflessness.
I aspire for your faithfulness.
We all endure through your peacefulness.

In the end, when all ideas have alluded me,
I sometimes think of what your action would be.

An amazing father you are to your daughters.

A father you have been by action to your honorary son.

Some say a pictures worth a thousand words -

I hope these words are a picture of appreciation from me.

Thank you! I am honored to have known you Mr. Davidson.

Happy Fathers Day.

Ben
Sharecropper's breaking the ****** land ..The braying mule at Dawn ,
the cool cascading fall line waters , the steady tolling of the iron bell at Dusk ..
The pull of the ferryman over her inland waterways , the roar of the locomotive to points south , fragrant tobacco and smoke houses , the burning of Winter fields ..
Skies filled with the doves of September , the black bears of Appalachia , the gulls of Jekyll , Cumberland and Tybee Island ..
The turned , fertile medium refreshing the sturdy October air , of diesel
motor , horse drawn cart and wooden barrow .
Late December frost lays thick along coffee-colored roadsides , the tapping of steel shoes across aged , buckling asphalt .. Winter songbirds congregate around late afternoon icy runoff , sun beams break the grip of afternoon fog ...
Copyright March 12 , 2016 by Randolph L Wilson * All Rights Reserved
Ken Pepiton Feb 2019
Thoughts we think we have for no reason

we think poor, we think as a slave thinks,
we think like a sharecropper.

Reaping what our children selves sowed
so others may eat it.

We forged the chain that chains the wolf,
never fear,
vengenance has been tamed since
shame was shown to be
avoidable, flushable

biodegradably wiped clean.
Beans and corn remind you

Chew your food. You can choke.
You can die swallowing an untold lie whole.
When you choke among those who wish you lived,
Heimlich points blame straight at you, you
expel the lie as if it were our creation, you're
to blame, to shame, to prove

you did not digest the story the lie intended to tell,
the lying spirit in the mouth of magi
sybils and seers and prophets and poets and such,

who forgot the origin,
the idea of binding a bubble into a being

bubblin', bubblin,
bubblin' in m' soul
m'nordic nomadic hunter soul singin' along mit

revinoor disdeemin' relations o'mine, who
all dance to
Flatt and Scruggs fiddle tunes. 't'sinthe blood,

Galacian flutes and Persian fiddles and wooden clogs,

mockasin-

soft shoe, round the... shhh listen shuffle
yah thisaway yaha thisaway hey hey this away

ever

coom buy ya'll, come by

touch, in passing, take my piece, play to win.
wink. wink.

the one-eyed white man hands you his cane, wanders away
as if he had some better place
to be.
https://anchor.fm/ken-pepiton/episodes/The-Hermits-Will-or-Tools-for-the-Heirs-of-My-Kingdom-e3al29
Dark n Beautiful Aug 2021
I used to wake up with a particular feeling
On Sunday mornings, when I was just a lassie
Nothing could have been more appeasing to the nose
Then a leg of roast pork baking in the oven
Or even a bake chicken or lamb stew
On the top burner, while my mother would sang out of tune
in the kitchen, as she prepared the breakfast, and Sunday dinner
While putting together a Sunday feasts

As for my father, nothing seems of important
Than fixing the old engine or washing down his old Woosley car,
As for me, it was removing those tight braids, or laundry with my wash pan
and scrub board, my mother would be busy in the kitchen,
But somehow, she can tell when we weren’t doing the laundry correct
Even down to our pair of white socks,
And to think latterly of its ****!  back then.
I meant to big up some old dudes from my village
The ones who had left a lasting impression on me throughout
the years, those characters, those lively old men
My father, the sharecropper, ******* or gun smoke)

Dan Dan aka (Daniel Mrs. Sealy husband) I referred to him as
Norbert the man who encourage his wife to gain weigh MS Evelyn  
His way of thinking, he loves women who had meat on the bones?
Old man Sealy the village butcher,  the slaider
nobody could have slain a pig like he uses too,
Odaly Roach, the biggest eyes in a man eyes  
But he would always, give me a penny or two to buy my candies
I remember, his friendly words, of future endeavors (R.I.P) my mentor
Pap_pee, my friend father, he would give me one of his ripe avocados the most tastiest fruit of them all
With a smile, I would thank him, (may he also rest in peace)
It's time to put the aside the old resentments; lies,
Some of them were good old grumpy old men
And some of them were bad *** characters,
While looking back, most of them were BLP Political men
However, no one could have never left a lasting  
Impression that Buddy Sealy the man with the black felt hat
The old man with a bicycle who enjoy his life to the end.
Accessible twenty four hours a day
seven days a week,
fifty two weeks a year.

Spring 2022 Curtain call at
Highland Manor Apartments unit b44
framing Mother Nature nook
ever changing scene unfolds
analogous to storybook.

I espy (hear and see)
while sitting at table
housing Macbook Pro
plethora of wildlife
on a band dinned patch of woodland,
yet slated to resemble cookie cutter vinyl city
that sprout like mushrooms and/or toadstools.

Yours truly bares witness to fauna
(most likely oblivious
to encroaching urbanization
most often becoming endangered
and/or extinct creature if lucky
enough becoming cherished, loved, valued
property of zoo keeper),

who rarely encounter **** sapiens
while innocuously and innocently
buzzfeeding, kickstarting pinteresting
linkedin with rites of Spring
fawning, matchmaking, twittering
regarding instinctual self survival tactics.

At a safe distance removed
our perch (chance) analogous
to one way mirror,
whereby yours truly and the missus
watch the nature channel live
never tiring at random antics
exhibited by aural and visual
courtesy spontaneous unrehearsed
Animal planet productions.

While astutely, fascinatingly, keenly, quietly
observing semi, quasi, pseudo... wild kingdom
flashback in space/time continuum occurred.

I observed banned band
of untamed ruffians and outlaws
use wildland as hideout from y'all
sip pose zid smart alecks
who would be surprised country bumpkin
like me can rattle off...
courtesy nasal twang

(or because of) Schwenksville drawl
which can pose difficulty understanding
attributed nysc with submucous cleft palate,
hence droning voice of mine
in tandem with puny size
found yours truly scapegoat
bullies taunted and teased

I felt analogous being
just another brick in the wall
until sharecropper mama and papa Joad
headed west Okie dokie
with truant steering da wheel
driving off into sunset via UHaul
passing zee monotony

doodling Yankee went hoo(t)'n and hollerin
across this country tis of thee
imitating moost every doggone animal
earn'n chump change telling tales tall
like dis here mumbo jumbo
his birthplace home to countless
life forms large and small
some skitter, slither, scamper,

jump, hustle, hop, fly, crawl
and we even encountered
mighty big beef eating fellas
who beat up punks
getting in barroom brawl
adieu fromm simple folks,
cuz nuttin else to write dat's awl!
Do you know these people
  dirt poor with joyful eyes?
  No tears or pity asked they
  work hell's cloudless fields
  every meal fatback and beans  
  sharecropper hands of stone.
  Sunday overalls starched go
  to Church praise Jesus, atone.
  Saturday nights there's music
  and moonshine and slow dance
  they give up the ghost midnight
  still clutching in fierce romance.
(if alive...though way up in years,
the cherished divine endearing gent,
would nonetheless captivate ears
of all colors with hearty, gracious cheers,
yet though long since gone to dust,
his posthumous belated birthday still registers blares.)

Two score and eleven years ago come
April fourth, two thousand nineteen
father of civil rights movement the,
Reverend Martin Luther King Junior honored
as benevolent demigod figure to the

oppressed African American population
without whose bold risks and subsequent
assassination April fourth
ninety sixty eight at the hands of a crazed
gunman (James Earl Ray),  

wrought empowerment advancing dreams
of slaves recent descendents
allowing, enabling and providing
once attainable aspirations
only bestowed upon the self anointed

masters and early settlers
of the virginal North
American contiguous land mass
yet…generations prior to this
prestigious public personality

Abolitionists pitted themselves against
the institution of slavery
incrementally raising awareness
per the abomination
forced servitude incurred

on those shackled
thus setting the stage for this
grandson of A.D. Williams,
a rural parsonage, who
ministered spiritual support

for the small congregation
(initially only thirteen members)
comprising attendants at Ebenezer Baptist
Church in Atlanta Georgia
setting precedent for freedom

(at risk of life and limb)
against scourge of
racial prejudice courtesy
of sharecropper grand parents
whose objection to racial segregation based

on an affront to the will of God
whereby the young
whip smart precocious lad,
(whose impact we now memorialize)
showed his true colorful promise,

when a young student at
Liberal Crozer Theological Seminary
in Chester, Pennsylvania
where the yet uncrowned eminent King
came under the influence

of theologian Reinhold
Niebuhr, a classmate
of his father's at Morehouse College
who became a mentor
by exposing his protégée

to liberal views of theology
planting the seeds of ardent
activism that gave rise to
The Southern Christian
Leadership Conference (SCLC)

an initial platform hoisting his status as
thee most articulate orator
spelling binding the listeners
with his soaring metaphors
about his emphatic march

to a promised land
where all men/women
could be brothers/sisters
and no person will be judged
by the color of his/her skin
raising morale of many dirt poor ebony
(and lighter skin toned) masses
to feel a glimmer of hope!
Born five score minus seven years ago
minus attaining age of centenarian
father of civil rights movement,
the revered Martin Luther King Junior
honored as benevolent demigod figure
to the oppressed African American population

without whose bold risks
and subsequent brutal assassination April fourth
ninety sixty eight at the hands
of a crazed gunman (James Earl Ray),
whereby all the King's men
and all the King's horses...,

still aghast at tragic event
while reverberations felt forty two years later,
where embedded white privilege
begets continued racial strife
analogous to uncorked raging tempest
saddling people of color to human *******

(no matter ponying up excellent equestrians),
nevertheless wrought empowerment
advancing cherished dreams
of slaves recent descendents
allowing, enabling and providing
once attainable aspirations
only bestowed upon

the self anointed masters and early settlers of
the virginal North American contiguous land mass
yet…generations prior
to this prestigious public personality
Abolitionists pitted themselves
against the institution of slavery

incrementally raising awareness
regarding the abomination
forced servitude incurred on those shackled
thus setting the stage
for this grandson of A.D. Williams
a rural parsonage,

who ministered spiritual support
for the small congregation
(initially only thirteen members)
comprising attendants at
Ebenezer Baptist church in Atlanta Georgia
setting precedent for freedom

(at risk of life and limb) against scourge of
racial prejudice courtesy
of sharecropper grandparents
whose objection to racial segregation
based on an affront to the will of God,
whereby the young whip smart precocious lad,

(whose impact we now memorialize)
showed his true colorful promise
when a young student at
Liberal Crozer Theological Seminary
in Chester, Pennsylvania
where the yet uncrowned

eminent king came under the influence
of theologian Reinhold Niebuhr,
a classmate of his father's
at Morehouse College
who became a mentor by exposing
his protégée to liberal views of theology

planting the seeds of ardent activism
that gave rise to
The Southern Christian
Leadership Conference (SCLC),
an initial platform
allowing, enabling and providing acclaim

hoisted up by petard
invariably only heightened
(his) posthumous status
as thee most articulate orator
spelling binding the listeners
with his metaphors about his emphatic march

to a promised land where all
men/women could be brothers/sisters
and no person will be judged
by the color of his/her skin
raising morale of many dirt poor
ebony masses to feel a glimmer of hope.
Five score minus eight years ago
January eighteenth two thousand twenty one
father of civil rights movement
the revered Martin Luther King Junior honored
as benevolent demigod figure
to the oppressed African American population

without whose bold risks
and subsequent brutal assassination April fourth
ninety sixty eight at the hands
of a crazed gunman (James Earl Ray),
whereby all the King's men
and all the King's horses...,

still aghast at tragic event
while reverberations felt forty two years later,
where embedded white privilege
begets continued racial strife
analogous to uncorked raging tempest
saddling people of color to human *******

(no matter ponying up excellent equestrians),
nevertheless wrought empowerment
advancing cherished dreams
of slaves recent descendents
allowing, enabling and providing
once attainable aspirations
only bestowed upon

the self anointed masters and early settlers of
the virginal North American contiguous land mass
yet…generations prior
to this prestigious public personality
Abolitionists pitted themselves
against the institution of slavery

incrementally raising awareness
regarding the abomination
forced servitude incurred on those shackled
thus setting the stage
for this grandson of A.D. Williams
a rural parsonage,

who ministered spiritual support
for the small congregation
(initially only thirteen members)
comprising attendants at
Ebenezer Baptist church in Atlanta Georgia
setting precedent for freedom

(at risk of life and limb) against scourge of
racial prejudice courtesy
of sharecropper grandparents
whose objection to racial segregation
based on an affront to the will of God,
whereby the young whip smart precocious lad,

(whose impact we now memorialize)
showed his true colorful promise
when a young student at
Liberal Crozer Theological Seminary
in Chester, Pennsylvania
where the yet uncrowned

eminent king came under the influence
of theologian Reinhold Niebuhr,
a classmate of his father's
at Morehouse College
who became a mentor by exposing
his protégée to liberal views of theology

planting the seeds of ardent activism
that gave rise to
The Southern Christian
Leadership Conference (SCLC),
an initial platform
allowing, enabling and providing acclaim

hoisted up by petard
invariably only heightened
(his) posthumous status
as thee most articulate orator
spelling binding the listeners
with his metaphors about his emphatic march

to a promised land where all
men/women could be brothers/sisters
and no person will be judged
by the color of his/her skin
raising morale of many dirt poor
ebony masses to feel a glimmer of hope.
Acme Sep 2021
Do you know these people
  dirt poor with joyful eyes?
  No tears or pity asked they
  work hell's cloudless fields
  every meal fatback and beans  
  sharecropper hands of stone.
  Sunday overalls starched go
  to Church praise Jesus, atone.
  Saturday nights there's music
  and moonshine and slow dance
  they give up the ghost midnight
  still clutching in fierce romance.
Do you know these people
  dirt poor with joyful eyes?
  No tears or pity asked they
  work hell's cloudless skies
  every meal fatback and beans  
  sharecropper hands of stone
  Sunday overalls starched go
  to Church praise Jesus, atone.
For Brenda O.
Do you know these people
  dirt poor with joyful eyes?
  No tears or pity asked they
  work hell's cloudless fields
  every meal fatback and beans  
  sharecropper hands of stone.
  Sunday overalls starched go
  to Church praise Jesus, atone.
  Saturday nights there's music
  and moonshine and slow dance
  they give up the ghost midnight
  still clutching in fierce romance.
Do you know these people
  dirt poor with joyful eyes?
  No tears or pity asked they
  work hell's cloudless fields
  every meal fatback and beans  
  sharecropper hands of stone.
  Sunday overalls starched go
  to Church praise Jesus, atone.
  Saturday nights there's music
  and moonshine and slow dance
  they give up the ghost midnight
  still clutching in fierce romance.
Do you know these people
  dirt poor with joyful eyes?
  No tears or pity asked they
  work hell's cloudless fields
  every meal fatback and beans  
  sharecropper hands of stone.
  Sunday overalls starched go
  to Church praise Jesus, atone.
  Saturday nights there's music
  and moonshine and slow dance
  they give up the ghost midnight
  still clutching in fierce romance.

— The End —