Rise up, wake up and work it out
Oh, why should a dream remain deferred?
Or why must a promise remain unfulfilled?
Rise up, stand up and sort this out
Rise up, wake up and talk it out
Oh, why should your dreams be nightmares?
Or why must your aspirations be daydreams?
Rise up, stand up and sort this out
Rise up, wake up and think it out
Oh, why should my vision turn ephemeral?
Or why must my mission turn peripheral?
Rise up, stand up and sort this out
Rise up, wake up and work it out
Oh, why should our roles remain usurped?
Or why must our work remain unfinished?
Rise up, stand up and sort this out
Author: Chambi Chachage, January 2008
Inspiration: Aime Cesaire’s Return to my Native Land, Langston Hughes’ A Dream Deferred, Martin Luther King, Jr’s I Have a Dream & Bob Marley’s Get Up, Stand Up