Poems

What Lead up to...

What led up to my escape
Was my childhood:
First named Araminta Harriet Ross.

A child of nine,
Inspired by mother's determination,
To keep our family together.

Disobeying an overseer,
A two pound weight to my head,
Resulting in permanent damage.

Now renaming myself Harriet,
I fled in fear,
After my owner's death.

What led up to my mission
Was the feeling
Of freedom:

"I looked at my hands
To see if
I was the same person.

There was such a glory over everything;
The sun came like gold through
The trees, and over the fields,

And I felt like I was in Heaven."
Then I knew,
Others had to be saved.

What led up to my mark on this world,
Was my determination:
Nicknamed Moses.

I helped free many.
Family and friends.
Slaves willing to leave.