Hart Island

The island of death

Hart Island

An island of unknowns

No one cares to miss

A mille of hollow ground

That is a dark abyss

 

It is a place of sorrow

One that thrives on death

Occupied by drug addicts

And babies yet to take a breath

 

The living do not enter

Without a wooden box

And souls are chained within

Behind iron bars and locks

 

The bodies decompose

And the living will forget

Out of sight and out of mind

No one will soon regret

 

Their stories go untold

By those who’s blood’s still pulsing

Maybe if they knew the truth

They would find it repulsing

 

Graves unmarked and massed

Few stones line the land

And where we should be reminded

Only shadows stand

 

In life they had no justice

In death comes Heaven’s gate

I bet it eases guilt

To simply call it fate

 

What a way to be remembered

By the country they called home

At the ending of their lives

And the conclusion of this poem

 

 

  More than 850,000 dead are buried on Hart Island"approximately 2,000 a year. One third of them are infants and stillborn babies - which has been reduced from one half since children's health insurance began to cover all pregnant women in New York State. In 2005 there were 1,419 burials in the potter's field on Hart Island, including 826 adults, 546 infants and stillborn babies, and 47 burials of dismembered body parts.

        The dead are buried in trenches. Babies are placed in coffins of various sizes, and are stacked five coffins high and usually twenty coffins across. Adults are placed in larger pine boxes priced according to size and are stacked three coffins high and two coffins across. Burial records on microfilm at the Municipal Archives in Manhattan indicate that babies and adults were buried together in mass graves up until 1913 when the trenches became separate in order to facilitate the more common disinterment of adults.

        The potter's field is also used to dispose of amputated body parts, which are placed in boxes labeled "limbs". Ceremonies have not been conducted at the burial site since the 1950s, and no individual markers are set except for the first child to die of AIDS in New York City who was buried in isolation. In the past, burial trenches were re-used after 25"50 years, allowing for sufficient decomposition of the remains. Presently, historic buildings are being torn down to make room for new burials. (Wikipedia)

 

Reviews

[zainul]

I adore you Voice for presenting this golden piece.
The poem eloquently gives tributes to the persons who had no justice in life.
I am impressed by each line of the piece which touched my heart.
Thank you for sharing.
I congratulate you dear poet for your great effort for animating the
'The island of death'

[Girl Friday (Sarah W.)]

So sad...I've seen documentaries on Hart Island and Potter's Field before; very powerfully morbid and sad stuff. Well written piece.

[Coyote Poetry]

Thank you for the poem and the history. I never heard of this Hart Island. It must be a sad and somberly place. I will do some research. A strong poem with a powerful story. A excellent poem.
Coyote

[Crazy Cat Man]

this is powerful.

[The Rock And Roll Cowbo..]

I had never heard of this island so thank you for bringing it to attention, sad to think there are places like this on Earth... for the sad topic it was very well written. No one should ever be forgotten.