Slavery`s Stain

By Ed Roberts

Poems and Poets # 23

 Slavery`s Stain  

SlaverySo many wish to speak of slaveryAs a crime of the pastA stain of oldThat never washes away
They tell of their ancestorsWho were taken from their homelandAnd sold as slavesTo serve masters in the new world
Believe meI understand thisFor my ancestorsSuffered the same as well
Their storyFor so many thoughLies forgotten
From their homesThey were takenBrokered and barteredBy the Barbary corsairsInto the ports of Tripoli and TunisThey were takenAnd sold at auctionTo their African mastersFor many familiesThey were simply listed asLost at sea
In a period that lastedOver several hundred yearsOver one million were takenMany chained to oars of galley shipsOr sent to work in the minesTheir lives from that point onWas measured mostly in monthsInstead of years
The lucky were chosen to be house servantsOr ransomed back to their familiesBut these were few and far between
YesI know of slaveryFor my bloodline is German, Cherokee, and IrishAnd at one point or anotherAll have suffered this fate
Slavery thoughIs not simply a ghost of the pastSomething once sufferedBut confined to books of history
For far too manyIt is a gruesome and harsh realityEven today
YesterdayI spoke to a friend of mine in IndiaHe had just returned home from a journeyA mission to rescue his nieceInto slavery she was sold by one of her unclesShe is only twelveIf you wish to knowWhat some value the lifeOf a twelve-year-old girlFrom India at
I can tell youShe was sold for five hundred dollars USSlaverySo many wish to speak of slaveryAs a crime of the pastA stain of oldThat never washes away
I can tell you todayFor this to ever finally becomeSimply a stain from our pastWe must all find a way to come togetherAnd as one peopleWork to clean itEven from our own homelandsAs well