"Come with me on a rousing escapade!"
How temptingly he'd whispered in my ear.
"My dear, I promise there's nothing to fear."
How easily he'd managed to persuade
me. Then secretively, his plans were laid.
He'd spoken three words that seemed so sincere,
"Come with me."
Gendarme sirens sounded. It was a raid!
Suddenly, his occupation was clear...
A slave trader taking me to Tangier,
I was rescued and told, "You've been betrayed.
Come with me."
October 14, 2022
Rousing Rondine Contest
Sponsored by Jeff Kyser
“Amazing Grace” never grows old
A hymn for all times and places
Even the most jaded will sing it
I’ve heard it in barroom spaces
‘Tis often sung in worship services
By the choir and the congregation,
The story of John Newton is told
How the slave trader found salvation.
An English cleric of some renown
Words he wrote tell us he became free,
“Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me,”
“I once was lost, but now am found
Was blind, but now I see.”
Written August 22, 2022
Her eyes aren’t hollow holes
A smoke and mirror trick
She’s filled with gasoline
Not as soulless as you may think
She spites bitter memories
Her skin flares
Itch away the pain
Raw from you picking away
Sand paper could feel better
Than the words you run along her
Close your eyes
You won’t want to watch this hurricane
Sucked dry of sweetness
She’s lost her sugarcane
Hailing bullets like champagne
Snorting gunpowder like lines of cocaine
Mining like a slave trader
She’ll go unmissed
Until you need your next fix
Then you’ll send the dogs to find miss
Clap up and down
She makes noise like a captive
Like music to your ears
She knows the words you want to hear
Gutter loving whore
Just keeps coming back for more
Desperate for a taste
It’s why she can’t escape
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