Warning: The author has noted that this contains the highest level of sexual content.
After years of delay,
Emancipation Day.
In an East Texas town,
you followed me around,
and said, “How ‘bout some fun?”
I said, “I’m with someone.”
On the nineteenth of June,
as the crowds sang the tune
“Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing,”
I pocketed my ring.
Strawberry soda pop.
Orgasms that won’t stop.
I licked my lips and you,
like Texas barbecue.
Sex was good; guilt was bad.
You’re the best love I’ve had,
but lyin’ and cheatin’
is not worth repeatin’.
Free at last. Free at last.
Our affair’s in the past.
‘Though scarred from barbed fences,
I’ve come to my senses.
Nevermore will I roam.
I turn west towards home.
After years of delay,
Emancipation Day.
You know, I’ve been thinkin’
‘bout freedom since Lincoln
fathered this Jubilee
by endin’ slavery.
I became re-enslaved
when willy misbehaved,
like a Gulf hurricane
tougher than any chain.
Love can be a shackle
stronger than any glue.
I chewed through my ankle
to limp away from you.
Sex was good; guilt was bad.
You’re the best love I’ve had,
but lyin’ and cheatin’
is not worth repeatin’.
Free at last. Free at last.
Our affair’s in the past.
‘Though scarred from barbed fences,
I’ve come to my senses.
Nevermore will I roam.
I turn west towards home.
After years of delay,
Emancipation Day.
After years of delay,
Emancipation Day.
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Author Notes
Emancipation Day, better known as Juneteenth, commemorates June 19, 1865 when Union General Gordon Granger landed in Galveston, Texas with Federal troops and announced the end of slavery. More isolated geographically, Texas slavery had persisted two and a-half years after President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. African American descendants of freed slaves celebrate this day with festivities that include eating barbecue, drinking strawberry soda pop, and singing James Weldon Johnson's song "Lift Every Voice and Sing."
I thank pix for the "Chain Reaction" illustration.
Thank you for your review.
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