against all forgetting

the generations look down and say naught
all ancestors at a distance blend into each other
when alive nonetheless they would have fought
and found no reason to use the word brother
explorers victims lords and serfs and slaves
black white and other all united here
in my live body while theirs lie in graves
their voices cannot now reach to my ear
i cannot choose among them without grief
so make no choice but think of the long years
when victim felt the lash of the proud thief
but could not comprehend the master's fears
what of them in my life i ask myself survives
that would have lit a fire in their own lives