Fireworks over Charleston,
burning smoke on salt air.
I stand
in dark water
where slaves came
ashore
in sin of iron
if they made it
this far.
Fireworks over Charleston,
burning smoke on salt air.
I turn
from celebrations of freedom
to the black sea.
It knows
what happened.
It remembers
what we traded
for our liberty.
Fireworks over Charleston,
burning smoke on salt air.
Listen
to the waves
rise.
Listen
to the waves
speak.
They call
for unfinished
freedom.
Fireworks over Charleston,
ghosts of smoke on salt air.
Rise
on the waves,
ghosts of the sea,
ghosts of cobblestone
and Market,
ghosts of fields
and trees.
Rise, ghosts of churches
entered and burned,
living ghosts
of prisons,
bound still
by the ink
Rise beside heroes
of freedom today.
I speak their sacred names:
Max Parthas, Al Black, Len Lawson, Shirley Gray, Dominique Chuku, Marlanda Dekine, Blaq Socrates, Lindsey Stevens, Cassandra Byrd, Max Lit, Christopher Martin, Yossi Liebowitz, Caroline Caldwell, Lisa Marie Corley, Ivy Hill, Betsy Neely Sikma, Tavis Brunson, Kyle Keefer, Shemu’el Namaste, Yosef ben Israel, Pat Tatham, Thomas Evans, Chamlee Loscuito, Jason Loscuito, Joanne Hull, Derrick Smith, Meghan Blanton Smith, Norma Blanton, Emily Schafer, Jason Lee, Meg Barnhouse, Meg Audette, Natalie Grinnell, Desimber Rose, Torey Hill, Eric Haylock, Eric Gutierrez, Elise Erikson Barrett, Chris Barrett, Kirk H. Neely, Clare Neely, Kris Neely, Kristi Equality Ward, Brandi Dice, Chris Story, Jessalyn Wynn Story, Will Rothschild, William K. Neely, Wanda Suddreth Neely, Ada Bennett, Mary Thomas, Mary Arrington Walter, Colleen Megarity Ballance, Jennifer Parker, Bindi Gandhi, Karla Otroszko Daniel, Cleve Seay, Robert Williamson, Roberto D’Erizans, Catherine Robe Schumacher, Christi Owen Brown, Chris Steed, Craig Foster, Craig Murphy, Dottie Metropol, Beth Farmer Lancaster, John Lane, Betsy Teter, Terry Wilson, David Schenck, Betsy Cox, Liz Perry, Cody Owens, Davelyn Hill, Kimberly Seibles, Jayde Barton, Natalia Swanson, Keisha Gray,
Betsy Claire Neely, Ben Neely, Anne Neely,
and all those unnamed
but spoken in this hymn.
Rise for liberty
and justice
for all.
Fireworks over Charleston,
ghosts on salt air.
Sullivan’s Island, SC
July 4, 2015
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A recording of this poem may be heard here.
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