Souls Held Bound

A piece I wrote in AP World History after doing a role play about the TransAtlantic slave trade.

Memories flowing through my mind,
In the darkness of the hold.
Cramped and filled with stench and fear;
My body’s hot; my mind is cold.
Standing in the field that day,
Grabbed so quickly from behind,
Shackled roughly to my friends,
Pain of body, pain of mind.
I don’t know how we made that trek,
Stumbling over plants and rocks.
Forced to build a river raft,
To bring us to the fateful docks.
White men came and took us on;
Were they demons? Must be so.
Will they eat us? What’s this fate
Worse than death to which we go?
My mother died with half my brothers,
Little ones too young to walk.
All I have left is one friend now,
Both of us too scared to talk.
We can’t even breathe the air here,
Smells of vomit, blood, and sweat.
Trying not to think of later,
Wondering if to live is worth it.
All my tears I’ve since cried out,
Too much pain and too much fear,
I don’t know what’s going to happen,
And I don’t think I want to hear.
Blood is flowing down my shoulder,
Where my collar cuts my neck.
Heavy iron pulls my hands down,
Held by locks they often check.
No way out for slaves and cargo,
No escape for souls held bound.
Sickness runs like wild among us,
Killing the weak without a sound.
A shout! They open up the hold,
Take us out into the sun.
A last inspection, rough and brutal,
To mark the value of each one.
A gloomy vigil in the slave pen,
Wondering what the dawn will bring.
Wishing that I had some hope left,
With my last friend whispering.
Hauled up on a selling block,
Whit men yelling foreign cries.
Dragged away from my one friend,
My last memory his tearful eyes.

Reviews

[Guardian]

I have to be perfectly honest when I say that this poem made me tear up. I absolutely love it and there is so much emotion radiating with every word. Every line has deep meaning and is used effectively and powerfully. It's an absoluely fabulous piece. Fantastic job!