Far Across the Atlantic
From dusk till dawn, the fields, they toiled
Enduring lashes from the overseer's whip.
Grimacing as the sun on them, boiled
The pain, too deep for them to even weep.
Heavy iron shackles impeded their footsteps
Hot iron on bare skin branded them as property
And while many suffered from broken biceps
Others died and few in pains, reached forty.
The maidens got raped by the bearded monster
The children, separated and sold like sheep
And while many got maimed in this order
With stoicism they endured with little sleep.
The Americas, my Ancestors built
And like soldiers far from Rome,
They sweated and died without guilt
In a land they couldn't call home..
They toiled under the sun in silence
Their minds, blurred by the middle passage
Such hideous and appalling violence
That saw thousands cast overboard during the voyage.
Gathered at dusk around their candle stick,
Desperation had struck some with insomnia.
Families in fear clung, while the kids kick
Hearing their parents voices singing in nostalgia
"Home again again, home again again
When shall I see my home?....."
©Temajung Michael T
Copyright © Temajung Michael Tanjang | Year Posted 2021
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