The Forgotten Song

It lives only in memories now,
pieces of an old hymn,
a song of praise and redemption
and life ever after
A song of hallelujah
and amen
once sung by a choir of black voices
gone too soon
and disappeared
to their own ever-afters;
It lives among the charred remnants
of the old cloister,
high notes and perfect pitch
now muted and subdued
to those who want to remember but cannot;
It lives among the annals of history,
eclipsed by a church on fire
and black bodies burning.