The Cotton Plant
 

Once there was a time
long before you or I
when people were judged
not by hearts, or deeds, or souls;

They were simply
black or white,
male or female,
young or old.

There were some poor men
who saw the light
they realized
it wasn't right

But still they stood
by family and homeland
to fight for a tradition
as dark as night

How crazily
a war begins
and catches those
who cannot win!

The cotton plant was there
among the mournful cries
of the black men, the soldiers,
the wounded men and widowed wives.

The cotton plant was there,
its pure white bowl
stained red with blood
of so many nameless souls.