Our Past
By Richard L. Martinez
We endured years of maltreatment,
Until we decided no more,
Rescued ourselves from imprisonment,
We escaped the war.
Refused to be used,
Do you know what it was like to wear our shoes?
When all we were allowed to do was work in the sun?
We couldn't even teach in schools.
Stronger we are indeed,
And the scars are here to prove it,
Once we were bound,
now we’re freed,
But the war is not yet through with.
The past can never be rearranged,
We can only hope that the pattern of our future changes,
And that we continue to trust in God,
For he has given us a multitude of chances.
Our past we should never be ashamed of,
Our past is apart of our Identity,
Let us cease to water down our roots,
Not even for the sake of simplicity.
Our Freedom was never given,
We’ve stumbled a couple times but now we’ve risen,
Enslavement was our blessing,
Because without the past,
We wouldn’t be present.