Life As A Slave

their stories are written on the water –
the men and women who were
broken in body, soul, and spirit
by that peculiar institution known as
slavery –
men and women whose names are
lost forever to history,
left only to be whispered by
the lakes and rivers of time.

for these people,
death
was better than the degradation and abuse
suffered during a harsh life lived on
a cotton or sugar cane plantation.

Very violent, sudden
uprisings,
where liberty – not malice – was
the motivation for their work,
were an acceptable, welcomed way to die.

and once finally freed,
these men and women crossed
the length and breadth of
a land which had scorned them.
they walked the land in search of
a promise of freedom and
a chance for a life outside the
bonds of slavery –
a promise meant to go unfulfilled.