Lash five
Lash six
Lash seven
And lash eight
I want to tell him to stay strong
Fight back but what is one supposed
To do when tied to a pole
Lash nine
Lash ten
He has a decision to make.
Lash eleven
Lash twelve
He is beyond weak
Lash thirteen
His vision is getting faint
Lash fourteen
Lash fifteen
He looks up at me
Eyes wired
Searching for clarity
I am right here brother.
Lash sixteen
I can't watch him suffer any longer
Lash seventeen
Just...
Lash eighteen
Don't go brother
Lash nineteen
Don't give up brother
Lash twenty
His back and legs straighten out
His hands still tied to the front of the pole
He struggles to speak
Don't say it my brother
Be strong.
Lash twenty one
Masters will not stop
Until it is said
And believed
Or until you're dead.
Lash twenty two
Too painful to continue
To watch my brother be beaten, whipped,
And pressured by a lash of leather
That one of the masters
Added nails and spikes to get the job
Done efficiently.
Although I admire his loyalty
To truth. This became unbearable
To watch my brother die
At the hands of a master
Who claims we can't read.
But the first book
The masters put in our hands
Was the bible.
I am sorry my brother
But just say it.
I don't want to watch you bleed out
And die. Your scars will leave a story to tell
I promise my brother please just
SAY IT!
He shouts.
Appalled reactions created a pause
In the masters actions
He shouts it again
The master walks up to his slave
Kneels down and dips his finger
in my brothers blood. With his other hand
He then grabs my brother by the chin.
Looks at him in the eyes
And says "this is the savior for all niggers".
Love this man with no doubt
Preach and live by his words
He will protect you in the afterlife
If you shall not sin
Pray and worship thy God
And he'll teach you to forgive
The masters devilish actions.
With his finger still dipped in my brothers blood. I look at him one last time
and say I love you brother.
Right before the master took his finger out of his blood and marked an X
with the blood of my brothers on the middle of his forehead.
He shouts it out one last time
As the master pulled the pistol
From his waist, he pulled the trigger.
My brothers last words will forever impact me.
CHRIST IS NOT MY SAVIOR!
CHRIST IS NOT MY SAVIOR!
CHRIST WILL NOT SAVE US!
400 years later...
Christ is not my savior.