Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, AJAX' CONCLUSION, by FRANK BARBOUR COFFIN


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

AJAX' CONCLUSION, by                    
First Line: My friends, our race is ostracised
Last Line: The future's on our shoulders staid.
Subject(s): Civil Rights Movement; Racism; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


My friends, our race is ostracised,
Long standing tears are in our eyes,
And we as meek and humble doves,
Endure it all with smiles and love.
And those who try to crush us down
Return our smiles in hateful frowns,
So we must rise and strike a blow,
When e'er these demons block our door.

As long as we retreat from them,
They'll use us as their limber-jim,
But if we punishments resist,
The white man'll know that we exist,
And if we all united stand,
We can our rights as men demand;
But we must show determination,
Instead of meek disconsolation.

The red man showed that he would fight,
This country gave him certain rights,
They never lynch an Indian chief,
They know his friends come to relief,
The foreigner from 'cross the sea,
Has all the rights of liberty,
Because if humans take his scalp,
His countrymen will raise a scrap.

The rattlesnake, the white man dreads,
And on his body will not tread,
Because he knows the rattlesnake,
If touched, will to'ard the toucher make.
The harmless ant upon the ground,
Men trample on without a frown,
If we resist, we'll gain respect,
If we unite 'twill take effect.

There must be some blood shed by us,
When Southern brutes begin to fuss,
Some Brown and Turner've got to die,
To picture to the demon's eye
The fact that we are in this land
To stay, 'till God gives us command
To move away, and until then,
We must be recognized as men.

We made the South-land with our toil,
And we intend to share the spoil,
But sometimes it seems just as well
To have a residence in hell.
Poor men are cut and burnt like fuel,
The country does not call it cruel.
Someone must rouse this base-ball age,
To overcome this black outrage.

Who's more fit to defend this right,
Than we who've seen these wicked sights?
Stern freedom's voice bids us arise,
Our patient ways she does despise,
Contentment makes real life decay.
Brave discontent brings brighter day,
What we are now, the past has made,
The future's on our shoulders staid.





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