Thinking Out Loud: The Everlasting Fire, and Who I Am To Me

September 25, 2026 - 9:21 am

Kevin P. Henry

I’m Kevin P. Henry and this is Thinking Out Loud.

Today my thoughts motivated me to write two poems. Both poems stem from my feeling about learning from history so that we don’t  repeat the horrible mistakes of the past. 

The Everlasting Fire

The fire has burned for generations

From the first crack of the whip

From the first bodies thrown into the sea

From the first sighting of the ships

Then there were bombs bursting in air

The sound of shackled feet moving through mud

But the sound won’t drown out the voices

Or dry up the rivers of blood 

Remember the cries from below in the hold

Remember the silent bodies swinging from trees

Burning embers carried by the winds of the past

Now turn the pages of our history 

Today the sky showered me with embers

And the river cleansed my soul 

I am saved by the love of my ancestors 

And by their stories yet to be told 

Who I Am To Me

My words are wrung with truth

Hands hardened like the soil

Where ashes lay atop the dirt

A reminder of the toil

But my eyes are moist with hope

My feet are full of steps

My hair is full of kinks

Who I am I never forget

Eyes red with rage

They want to snuff out the flame

Their guns can silence the voices

But history remembers the names

Let the floor buckle under the weight

At a Sunday morning revival

Our voices bend but never break

To sing songs of hope and survival