by Carolyn KizerI sang in the sun of my white oasis as you broke stone Then I sang and paraded for the distant martyrs loving the unknown They lay still in the sun of Sharpeville and Selma while you broke stone When you fled tyranny face down in the street signing stones with your blood Far away I fell silent in my white oasis ringed with smoke and guns Martyred in safety I signed for lost causes You bled on You bled on Now I recommence singing in a tentative voice loving the known I sing in the sun and storm of the world to the breakers of stone You are sentenced to life in the guilt of freedom in the prison of memory Haunted by brothers who still break stone I am sentenced to wait And our love-hate duet is drowned by the drum of the breakers of stone for D.B.
