Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement

Poems by Joseph Ruggiero

DARK IS THE NIGHT

Dark is the night
near is decision
but my mind has stopped
its ugly precision
The man shouts
I must ignore
that ugly speech
would make a whore
This world will end
and I will leave
but for J.L. Jackson
who did bereave
You shout of love
and you ache with hate
and do long
for your long lost mate
For how can white know
what it is to be black
for this to be
must my brain be wracked
The sun never shines
the stars cant twinkle
and so to hell
with a wedding bell
Come what may
it wont be good
now precious God
put away your white hood
Trouble me more
before I return to snore
give me black light
that I may see right