August in Virginia
A warm brandy night in 1831
Hidden in woodlands
Seven slaves discussed the freedoms to be won
Christ's blood on the cornfields
A benighted hand to suffocate the sun
War with the serpent
Visions from the book led a preacher to the gun
"Seek ye the kingdom of heaven
And all things shall be added unto you"
Words from the spirit
To see South Ampton county's insurrection through
Hoisting the window
The rebels burst into the sleeping master's room
Blows from their hatchets
Each child's bed a crimson, wodden tomb
"Was Christ not crucified?"
In deadly silence the farms were sacked
Alerting no free man to the next attack
Sixty fell to their axes and their swords
The General foretelling salvation from the Lord
Recruiting warriors they freed
From the ranks of the flogged
They rode through the bogs
A cavalry of stolen steeds
The wrath of the unbound
The oppressors' constant fear
The screams of two hundred years
Piqued the ears of the white man's hounds
Lynch mobs' slaughters
Of black sons and daughters
Blameless in this battle
Butchered as cattle
The deep south trembled at the negro prophet's renown
Vengeful militas hunted the panicked slaves down
Captured near his cavern
Judged in Jerusalem
Turner, brimming with glory
Confessed to his story
Led to the gallows of cavalry
A killer, a martyr, grinned
His deeds etched in history
His body hanged and skinned