A Slave's Plight

The air on board was foul and putrid. Chained together at the ankle in coffles, evil dragged me and others with scabbed lips on board. Humiliated under the sun, we were stripped naked and examined from head to toe and put in quarters to be raped. My senses dulled from abuse, bouts of hunger with nausea, constipation and headaches made me sick. The hallucinations from the forlorn distance sent shivers down my spine as lulling whispers of shackles tormented me. The anchor was set up, huge sails caused the ship to fly amidst ominous looming dark clouds. Thunder rumbled like a hungry monster. Cold breeze swept across the ship as i lay numb from the pain for months. Heavy cowhide descended on my shrinking flesh and manacled limbs. I grieved yesterday’s anguish as the sacred zeal in my bosom glowed preceding with my woes. A raised wooden stage welcomed me ashore. Naked, exposed to the sun’s piercing beam, bids were tallied carefully. Negotiations were made, i now belonged to “massa”. Working the heat in the plantations under harsh conditions, my back ached and wounds from the whipping from the overseer hurt – my fingers bled from picking cotton. Mentally subdued, i hid behind religion’s soothing balm. My mind was no longer my own, this body belonged to “massa”. I constantly pranced in the hallowed night, lamenting a hopeless future for my child- humming a languid song in hope that my ancestors might hear my plight. I raised my head to the sky, and envisioned freedom’s caress under a constellation.