White Sails, Dark Souls
In the hold tears are shackled
White eyes stare dark corners
Bare breasts hang limpid
Humanity dowsed in sewage
The slaver pitches, rolls
Each wave a fathom from home
Each trough a deeper despair
The screams and creaks in rhyme
Lost souls ghost the gloom
Living meat on planked beds
The stench of shame fills the air
The cry for God but no one there
The slaver ponders onwards
With its holds of sins
Black gold, worth in weight
Only time holds their fate
Bilges slurp of piss and degradation
Chains chatter, implore salvation
But the lash comes quick
Skin and hearts so easily broken
White sails on waves of shame
Sullies forth in evils name
Devil smiles at man's behaviour
And fortunes gained on slave labour
On the quay in lines they stand
Commodity of a human brand
And brand they will, darkened skin
With each mark a white man's sin
Dark these pages of history
Have we travelled in our thinking
Just how far have we come
The nettle of conscience does it sting
As racism still festers in the heart
White sails still float waves of shame
Copyright © Daniel Cheeseman | Year Posted 2011
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