Clay Blooming

v

CLAY BLOOMING

(Fannie Lou Hamer, 1917-1977 )

Sharecropper woman, woman of the earth,

fire-tempered, patterned in the smithy

of hard licks and heavy hammers,

you nailed together the possible dream;

yes, you did;

you nailed together the possible dream.

In Sunflower County, in Eastland eyes,

the sun peels skin, sweats profit

from the common coal-black clay;

in Sunflower County, under Eastland eyes,

Mississippi colonels steal life

and profit from the common coal-black clay.

Sharecropper woman, woman of soil

and toil and steel, battered

from the age of six, you rose

militant in Ruleville, massed

your people against the slavery;

against the slavery, you threw

a stone conniption of truth,

No more yesssah block for me.

No cotton, no Wall Street White House

gonna make you free.

Power of common clay gonna make you free.

You gotta make you free.

In Sunflower County, in Eastland eyes,

sharecropper woman, woman of the earth,

you turned that land to sunflower country,

awakened the common coal-black clay

with grit and love and motherwit;

with grit and love and motherwit

you nailed together the possible dream;

yes, you did;

you breathed rebellion in our souls,

breathed courage in our souls,

breathed some freedom in our souls.

Jerry W. Ward, Jr.