was a time when black chattel
was inheritance
like cattle,
like silver and gold
herded and sold
on auction blocks
to the highest bidder
going once,
going twice,
sold...
to the cotton king
and his kin
from florida’s keys
to the lochs of kentucky
wealth flowed like the Mississippi
filling white wells with prosperity
four centuries
and more
as seminal droughts rained
cyclones of poverty
on the black side of town
no gold
would be handed down
to the kin
of booker t and harriet...
only slivers of hope.
~ P
Dec 30, 2019
Dec 30, 2019 at 8:05 AM UTC
was a time when black chattel
was inheritance
like cattle,
like silver and gold
herded and sold
on auction blocks
to the highest bidder
going once,
going twice,
sold...
to the cotton king
and his kin
from florida’s keys
to the lochs of kentucky
wealth flowed like the Mississippi
filling white wells with prosperity
four centuries
and more
as seminal droughts rained
cyclones of poverty
on the black side of town
no gold
would be handed down
to the kin
of booker t and harriet...
only slivers of hope.
~ P
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