Email Poem

Your IP Address: 18.191.53.120
Your Email Address:
To Email Address:
Subject
Personal Note:
Poem Title:
Poem
Figurines


Lace up your shoes
Wear your black hoodie 
And your Timberland’s, too
You’ll never know what ‘ll happen to you 
Or where you’ll end up
On your way home 

Your ancestors have walked this land
In shackles and in chains 
And labored for but one cent
Their names have since been changed 
To  rob them of their dignity
And to mirror the victim hood  of their becoming

Bridges were built 
And houses were constructed
Wooden pillars on the fence
Guarded the territory 

“Girl” and “boy” were your poor grandparents called

“Yes, Sir”
“Yes, Master”
“Yes, Ma’am”
They uttered 
Even to the littlest of kin
Did they bow their heads 

They survived the Middle Passage Across the Atlantic 
Where hundreds of others ended up dead

Lynched and branded with hot compresses
Labeled the” inferior”and “subordinate” race
The Negro race
Black blood  
Thicker than mud
Light skinned sisters treated just as rough
Black bodies mere commodity 
Sold and exchanged 
Equated to an object -property

The spirit of the human being 
Engraved upon a figurine 
Their time and energy 
Kneaded, molded , carved
Sculpted and refined 
As merchandise is shelved to be bought 
Upon the auction block they stood
Black fruit hung from green trees and 
Black blood oozed over leaves 
Peculiar crop plucked at harvesting
Wall Street bonds and stocks 
Sold and exchanged livestock  
Transaction complete

Convincingly science supported slavery
Likening blacks to beasts
Reinforcing laws and customs of cruelty 
The forbidden instrument : the pen , the pencil
The forbidden book
The forbidden dreams 
The forbidden hope
Forbidden gatherings and group ensembling
Torn into shreds
Toiling to the grave


Children on auction blocks 
Mothers forcefully detached 
Bonds are busted open
Ties are broken
Flowers ravished 
Murderers forgiven 
Runaways in search of refuge 
Find their way back into captivity 
The paradox of democracy 
Of individual freedom and liberty and the institution of slavery 
Slavery, the generational curse 
Lincoln proposed freeing slaves to another country
For blacks and whites
Must not mix
Cause suffering
And make  each other sick 
Whites fall ill to Negro presence and existence 
Blacks fall ill to the unjust treatment and submission 

An honorable, decorated  black veteran beaten blind by the police 
Others shot and lynched
Their patriotism deemed unwarranted, threatening and disturbing 

In WW II
Laws forbad blacks from testifying in against whites persons in court 

Burnt alive, castrated and dismembered 

Their body parts put on storefronts ,
Buses firebombed 
Overrun by dogs 
hunting , public spectacles
Meant to deter and turn others back
The jazz and the blues 
Soothed their souls 
Expressed themselves 
And had attitude 
Every living thing is made of matter 
None can deny that fact 



Marckincia Jean
Free verse
08/28/19
CAPTCHA Preview
Type the characters you see in the picture
Required