The enemy cast us out,
Made us slaves indeed;
Live or die,
Here or there,
Made no difference to me;
The people trembled in fear,
Unsure of what to do;
Masters whip and ill use,
Made decisions for us;
Let us be gone,
From this,
Our rightful home;
Home is lost,
At all cost,
When slaves are we;
Heard stories of a land,
Ripe with fruit and trees;
Far away,
But then again, no,
But still not next door;
We chose to go,
To live abroad,
Than to be held in chains;
Rattle the saber,
Strike the shield;
We are still children,
To whom shall we yield;
We long to be,
Children of GOD;
Not tormented,
And left in ruins;
Lifted high,
To be all we can be;
Princes and Princesses,
In our own land;
Not held by whim,
Caged within;
Or chained like cattle,
But definitely not men;
They said,
Be our leader,
Take us away;
For we have heard of a land,
In which we may stay;
‘Tis better than this ruined abyss,
Of rock, sand and sun;
We long for peace,
Prosperity,
To be GOD’s chosen ones;
To dance and to sing,
Plant in the spring,
To raise up a family;
Children come near,
Let my voice touch your ear,
We must leave this calamity;
Each to his home,
Pack up your things,
Make ready to leave at dawn;
No more shall we wait,
In this frozen state,
Like some unnamed pawn;
Gather your children,
Animals and possessions,
Put them together in tow;
By this time tomorrow,
In wagon or barrow,
We will be children on the go;
We went to our homes,
And gathered our things,
Made ready for the new dawn;
Slept a little,
Fidgeted and turned,
All through the night;
Woke up at dawn,
Willing to go,
Like a thief in the night;
Made the rounds,
Checked one and all,
Tied everything as it should be;
No more living here,
No more this my home;
No more living like a slave,
With no room to grow;
Gathered up my belongings,
One last look around;
Said a prayer to my GOD,
We left our sacred ground;
Miles we walked,
And miles we rode,
Flies a pestilence;
Sunshine burning me,
No rain, the sun persists;
Days and nights,
We walk along,
No rest for the weary;
Sleep it comes,
In fits and starts,
My soul longs for change;
Desert heat,
Melts my soul,
My will has gone away;
I no longer see,
The horizon,
The wave crashes over me;
My people gather round,
And bid me take my feet;
Lead us away,
Bring us to,
That land of which we dreamed;
Promised,
Not forsaken,
A land of milk and honey;
A land of freedom,
A land of peace,
A land for eternity;
Many days we wandered,
Many days no rest,
Many days bewildered in this wilderness;
We crossed a raging desert,
Once a landlocked sea;
Now made waste,
From sun and wind,
Lost in obscurity;
We lost a few to hunger,
A few to disease;
A few were so parched,
Their bones became bleached;
We made it to the other side,
Relief felt from the heat;
But still had a ways to go,
To stop and to eat;
Rest it was wicked,
Made us want to stop;
Made us all lazy,
Like about to drop;
A day or two of rest,
Was all we could afford;
Time to go,
And make our way,
To destination unknown;
We rose in the morning,
Found the sun at our back;
Put one foot in front of the other,
Dare not to look back;
We wandered olden paths,
Wide and narrow we found;
Some were just recognizable,
Some worn to the ground;
The people asked how long,
The people cried for rest;
How long before we will see,
This land of which we dreamed;
I gathered the leaders near,
We spoke of the concerns;
We knew that turning back,
Was not our lot in life;
We told the people our decision,
We told each one the truth;
No matter when or where,
We go forward to the promised land;
The people understood,
Asked can we rest;
Just a day is all we ask,
The next we’ll do our best;
Rest it came easier,
But still fatigue’s our friend;
Bright and early
We broke our camp,
And started on our way;
Westward, then a little south,
Whichever the path would lead;
Would we know, would we see,
The land for which we dreamed;
We saw with our eyes,
Only a little with our hearts;
Our minds were so weary,
From not being held in check;
Worry and doubt,
Were our biggest fears;
But prayer and friendship,
Had gotten us through the years;
Our days lasted mightily,
Nights went by so fast;
Food and water our desire,
How long will this walk last;
We churned out many miles,
We churned out many days;
Blessed be the GOD above,
I hope we have not lost our ways;
We were a sullen bunch,
For sight was poor indeed;
We could not tell up or down,
Or tell plant from a weed;
The land turned up lush,
Right before our eyes;
But still we couldn’t believe,
We thought our eyes were telling lies;
We hustled to arrive,
We ran just to be sure;
Hoping it all was real,
That it wouldn’t disappear;
The grass it was so green,
The trees hanging with fruit;
Could it be the promised land,
The one of which we dreamed;
We walked along carefully,
Not wanting to break the spell;
No one spoke or made a sound,
But the cows and their bells;
We each wandered idly,
Looking at all that could be seen;
Looking for a place,
To plant our wandering feet;
The people breathed a sigh,
The burden lifted free;
The people spoke to the sky,
Thank GOD for His ability;
To bless those been cursed,
Love all the hated;
Conquer death,
Give life to the oppressed;
To show us mercy,
Grace and joy;
What it is to be loved,
Every girl and boy;
