On this day in 1866,
they came
Despite being pelted by rocks
and assailed with racist diatribes,
they came
Working during the day
for lessons at night,
they came
Walking barefoot,
they came
Ranging in ages from 7 to 70,
they came
They came to the Fisk School
More than 100 years later,
I came
to Fisk University,
fresh-faced and bright-eyed
I fell in love
with Fisk
She loved me back
She gave me a crown
and helped me to grow into it
And with it,
I grew beyond it
But I never forgot her story
Holding it in my heart,
I tell it where’er I go
Hoping one hundred and fifty years
from this day,
someone who comes
will say,
“she was a daughter, true”
Beckoned by its mellow hue,
they, too,
would have found their way–
Home.
Beautiful poem !