IN AND OUT
OF TIME
For Jessica and Colin Johnson
Stephanie and Guy Johnson
The sun has come out
The mists have gone
We see in the distance
Our long way home
I was yours to love
You were always mine
We have belonged together
In and out of time
When the first stone looked
Up at the blazing sun
From the forest floor
I loved you more
You were the rhythm on the head
Of the conga drum
And the brush of palm
On my nut brown skin
And I loved you then
We worked the cane
And cotton fields
We trod together
The city streets
Bruised by cruelty
Strutting and sassy
To our inner beat
And all the while
Lord, how I love your smile
You’ve freed your braids
Gave your hair to the breeze
It hummed like a hive
Of busy bees
I reached into the mass
For the honeycomb there
God, how I loved your hair
By circumstance
Injured by hate
And lost to chance
Legs that could be broken
But knees that would not bend
Oh, you loved me then
I raked the Heavens’ belly
With torrid screams
I fought to turn
Nightmares into dreams
My protests were loud
And brash and bold
My, how you loved my soul
The mists have gone
We see in the distance
Our long way home
I was yours to love
And you were always mine
We have belonged together
In and out of time