Segregation

An acrostic about the hatred we are capable of.

Segregation – the remaining chains of slavery.
Every man of color exhibited extreme bravery.
Granting of freedoms was gifted to whites alone.
Racial slurs rained upon every colored home.
Even our elected shared in this hate, while
Grieving mothers mourned their son's fate.
Arise they cried, "Arise my brothers, Now Arise!
Time to march and to fight before another dies!"
In the churches and in streets we stood for our rights
Our voices were heard by our courage and might.
Never again, never again, never again.
 

Reviews

[Mark D. Chevalier]

History is rife with the tales of the opressed, and you captured this snapshot with visual clarity and thought. I think that as civilization progresess (and I use the term loosely) what I see is more a slavery by class. Split between those that have wealth and those that do not. Your poem is unique in that I can place my own context in this framework and it will work just the same. Nicely done Sir!
Mark

[Mark]

Todd--
I have just learned that you are opting out of the WC. This saddens me greatly, as I have only just discovered you, and recognize an enormous talent when I see one. You write with depth and feeling, incorporating those qualities into well-structured, readable verse. Could you be persuaded to reconsider?
As to the poem itself, it suffered but little in that the fifth and sixth lines did not rhyme, breaking the flow somewhat. I know eleven lines is a hard number to deal with, but with your permission, I'd like to take a lick at your idea in a slightly different format. if I get something, I'll PM it to you for your approval and suggestions before publication.

[Brianna Brie]

This comes at a fitting time. As we make more history with out first black president. This poem makes me stop and think about how much the North and South must have believed in their cause to give their lives for it. One for it one against slavery.

[HoorayForUnderdog]

Well done acrostic and an important message as well!

[Jay Ligda]

I agree that you captured the snapshot of the oppressed as in the review below. I think you did a great job. I felt that the last line was a little detached though from the rest of it. I understand it was the voices in the night, but it lost some of the rhythm.

[zee]

I liked the way this flowed. I really dig the last line... never again. I'm all about integration!

[Nancy Lee Shrader]

CT, I find this piece a wonderful read as well as a way to point out the injustices in the world we live in. Too many people have been tortured, being made to suffer for the ignorance of the affluent in our society. I also agree with David that ignorance knows no color or creed. There will always be hate groups in our midst. However, those hate groups will one day have to stand before the throne of God. Then they will tremble. In my first book, IS IT NOW? The End of Days! I point out that very fact. Hate as sin is like a cancer, it reaches out and touches the innocence in the world. However, when all people come together as one under God will hate be put to death and life will spring eternal.

Good job Todd.

[alternative_be]

Laws and rules will not rule out segregation and as D.L.Paget points out below me there are many forms of slavery going on in the world!
I do agree that we should be reminded over and over again what happened during the times of slavery and I am glad that the kind of slavery you are describing has been abolished, but that does not mean that all problems are solved. The daily news is there to remind us that their is a lot of work to be done and though black slavery is abolished and segregation too, I do think we all have to make a effort to achieve equality between races.
Meanwhile other forms of slavery are emerging. Some people say history has a habit of repeating itself.
Maybe people wil discover that while reading your poem!
Now for the literary value of your poem: you are a pundit writer, this a very good accrostic which reads naturally and I find the way you combine rhyme and form awesome, because you succeed in preserve the flow in your work!

[Lee E. Powell]

This was awesome and very provocative, powerful imagery.
I've spent 14 years overseas where I was the only white guy for miles and really had to struggle at times. This piece really hit home for me.

[David Lewis Paget]

Very clever acrostic, Todd. However, I'd like to point out that it was only in comparatively recent times that even white people obtained universal suffrage. Despite all the petty reforms in Britain during the 19th century, it wasn't until 1928 that ALL the people were finally entitled to vote, irregardless of whether they were landholders or not. Women of 30 and over gained the right in 1918, but not until 1928 was that age reduced to 21. In that sense we were all slaves, one way or another, to the ruling classes of the time.

[[untitled]]

Powerful, thought-provoking. Wonderfully written acrostic piece.