Thou sounds of whipstrokes
Soul imprisoned,
Waiting freedom,
Yet an impossible solace.

Hearing their voices,
Coming from the afar off.
The scars on their backs,
Showing no signs of liberty.

Slaves,
Oh slaves,
Like a herd of cattle,
Placing them on ships.

Waving their goodbyes,
A sign of surrender.
Their mouth crying out,
An imprisonment of padlock and chains.

The lashes on their backs,
Showing signs of misery,
Yet telling an unfortunate story,
As it could never be forgotten.

A generation of unlucky fellows
Captured to sea,
Farming life's history,
A plantation for the west.

Tilling the ground,
Yet hungry,
As it awakens a race,
Telling no future.

Hollows from afar,
Giving way to a silent surrender,
Waiting for,
When men shall be free.

Written by Tosan Oluwakemi Thompson