Phibby Venable
ALONG THE NILE

along the nile we travel in silence
I can not fathom your intentions
or reconcile myself to your victories
you wear a coat and mock the sun
surrounding yourself in heavy cloth
and the lowered lids of willing women
the water moves past me without movement
time is still and the blue skies blend
into the horizon in waves of shadeless heat
join us, Flavius, you call at random!
but i am waiting for nightfall where the hidden voices
of my people call out for justice
and i am writing from an imprisonment
you can not free me from
at night the young voice of Jesus slips
past my guarded room
I watch the spirit of a redeemer and cannot speak
for the ignorance of my people and my desire to live
dwells strongly within me
I am not a brave man as men go
but I will scroll the truth in my time
and it will reach beyond this dull river
and the grim warnings of my people