Unrepentant

I am the unrepentant
Cherokee
Whose tears stain
The long trail from
The ancient homeland
Whose back strained
At the point of Jackson’s
Bayonet
To mourn beneath
Your western sky.

I am the unrepentant
Confederate
Who never furled
His colors
Who set his jaw
At your impudence
Who faded into the
Woodland
Of your society.

I am the unrepentant
Sharecropper
Who did not accept
Your terms
Who did not profit from your
New Deal
Who wore his ragged jeans
The way you did
Your gaudy ties
Who scratched his way
To life on his
Terms.

I am the unrepentant
Protester
Who raised his fist
Into the smoke
Of your cities
And refused to die
For your Industry
Grit and urban
Gehenna.

I am the unrepentant.
Forever unrepentant.

And I will not yield.