Night of Fires

FIRE.jpg

By Ashley Blake

America is on fire

The map is lit up like fireflies

dancing in the night

Ash floating up into the skies

 

Will it quench our rage

Will it soak up our tears

Will the fire rise up to our oppressors ears

 

The skies are on fire

We lit them up

Watch it burn

Watch it burn

 

Will we see the tides turn

Will our babies return to their mothers

Instead of the urns

 

America is on fire

fire that’s been flowing through our veins

The fire we were born with

is lit again

 

Over and over we bleed and we sin

Crying for justice

Crying to live

the live we were brought into

 

No one asked what color skin

We would like to be born in

No one asked if we’d like to be mad with the madness

Of being murdered and resented

 

America is on fire

The fire that’s been lit for generations

That cleared the land for the fields

My ancestors slaved in

 

America is on fire

Johnson tell us to march

towards the rising sun

Sing till victory is won

 

How many years have passed

Still chanting a reprise from 1899

looking for liberty in the same land

Still longing for the right to not be forced

into breathing our last breath

 

America is on fire

The fire that’s fueled

By the blood of our brothers

The tears of our mothers

The silence of our pale friends

 

Who will stop the fire

When will freedom begin



Ashley Blake, known as LAE (@talesoflae) is a multidisciplinary artist who is passionate about bridging cultural and ethnic gaps. You can easily find her listening to Korean R&B while scouring through editorial photography or sewing a costume for an upcoming shoot. Her work explores the spaces between reality and fantasy, crossing cultural spheres, seeking to explain the things – seen and unseen – that connect us all.

Ashley is the author of Midnight Harvest and Night of Fires, a credited songwriter, recording artist,  the creator of “The Girl Who Sees” visual poetry series, as well as an actor that can be seen in “Bakari” and the thriller “One Leg” which will release in Spring 2020.

www.talesoflae.com

www.instagram.com/talesoflae