Mississippi Stain

Mississippi Stain

Ole Mississippi, you have a stain on you.
As much as you wash it, scrub it, cover it.
That stain comes through.

My father’s father, mother’s mother
Lived and died in that south.
History told of many stories.

Yet so many were left out.
Ole Mississippi, in time you will be forgiven.
But I can’t see how you can ever be forgotten.
Your lands have as many dark stains
As your plantations have cotton.

Ole Mississippi, it can’t be forgotten.

Is it fair to say … it’s not all bad in that south?
When Mississippi slides over the tongue,
It’s not all bad that’s talked about.

There’s still some good in that Mighty Mississippi River,
Those green levees, beautiful Magnolia trees,
The people who’s making a living as far as the delta.
The pastors, college graduates, entrepreneurs.
The people who love it there and refuse to move.

Isn’t that fair to say?
Or is the wound cut so deep that it can’t be healed?
Maybe when we remember the past, we break the futures’ will.
It’s said so often that only time will tell.

What if we missed it; or seen the chance and dismissed it.
Maybe there’s too many of us too busy even to care to deal with it.

Ole Mississippi, you have a stain on you,
As much as you wash it, scrub it, cover it,
That stain comes through.

Each day when awakened, blessed to see the morning sun.

I pray giving thanks for the Civil Rights Movement.
And wait for that Ole Mississippi stain to be loosened,
And to become undone. © 2025