The First Keepers of the Claim
Five years from chains to chamber doors,
They stood where power lied,
With freedom raw upon their backs,
And blood still in the tide.

The war was done, the smoke remained,
The oath was not the same,
For men once counted under chains
Now entered in their name.

Freedom came, but debt remained,
Justice bowed, but debt remained,
Flags were raised, but debt remained,
Names were changed, but debt remained.

They fought for schools, for votes, for law,
For breath beneath the night,
While hatred changed its coat and tie
And called itself the right.

The land was promised, then returned
To hands that held the whip,
The slaveholder found the treasury,
The freedman lost his grip.

Freedom came, but debt remained,
Justice bowed, but debt remained,
Flags were raised, but debt remained,
Names were changed, but debt remained.They paid the hand that held the chain,
They left the wounded with the pain,
They dressed betrayal up as gain,
They called it peace and kept the stain.

Freedom came, but debt remained,
Justice bowed, but debt remained,
Flags were raised, but debt remained,
Names were changed, but debt remained.

Eric Lawrence Frazier Poet