the moonlit side of reality (a poetry collection)

5. still I fall into the depths of despair

May 22, 2020

A/N: This was for a school assignment we did on the Slave Trade, about the Middle Passage.

Whispers cloud inside my ears

Darkness tries to drown my tears

Rough hand grabs me, pulls me in

What have I done; how have I sinned?

Shackles grind against my wrist

I cannot even make a fist

People shove me; shove me more

Push me, pull me through a door

I feel the rocking of a boat

Metal, cold chains scratch my throat

They tie my hands up to a wall

I have no room to stand; I fall

Cheek pressed hard against the floor

Head turned toward revolting gore

I close my eyes and try to sleep

But all I want to do is weep

It smells so foul; so very rotten

The scent of home is long forgotten

What am I doing in this mess

How did I go from more to less?

Days pass by and hunger roars

I refuse to eat; I refuse some more

I would rather die than eat this day

But the pain betrays me anyway

They torture me with hot red coals

Already, Death is collecting my soul

They beat and whip me; I don't respond

I feel all the pain but I look beyond

Battered, bloodied, and bruised from the hurt

Shaking and still, I'm no longer alert

I think of my family and where they must be

Crying and breaking and mourning for me

I don't want to live with this grief anymore

I want to be taken where my tears can pour

I close my eyes slowly and think of my life

Tendrils of death cut through like a knife

I beg and I plead for Death to come

He answers my pleads and asks where I'm from

I tell him my struggles; my journey; my trip

I wish nothing but luck to those left on this ship.