Benton Harbor

What if you were born there
And you knew how things used to be
Watching your father come home each day
From the factory
What if you had seen the ships come in
And you thought it might always be that way
And what if you watched that all disappear
When you awoke one day

What if you knew where your landlord lived
On the other side of the river
In the resort town where you clean the floors
Would you feel your lips quiver
What if it was your brother who had the nerve
To date a white man's daughter
What if you found him with rope marks on his neck
Lying in the water

What if you'd been in prison for ten years of your life
For the crime of being black and poor
What if every time opportunity knocked
It was a policeman at your door
What if no one you knew had ever been to college
But everyone had been to jail
What if you knew those drugs were planted by the cops
Could you feel the cold steel rail

What if it was yesterday and you were there
And you saw the high-speed chase
And you watched the cop car hit him, saw him fall
Saw the look upon his face
What if you were a witness and you watched the cops
Kick him in the head
What if he was your friend and you knew him well
And you watched him lying dead

What if you had a wake and right there
You could hear the sirens' blare
What if they called you criminals and yelled into their bullhorns
While you were blinded by the floodlight's glare
What if someone lit a match and the wind blew the flame
At the abandoned foundry
Hours from the dawn in the darkness of the night
Through the fire what could you see

What if you were in Benton Harbor
On those hot nights in June
Would you have joined your neighbors in the burning of the cop cars
Beneath the summer moon
What if you were a city that has been abandoned
Would you just crumple beneath the load
Would you die in silence
Or might you just explode