THE STOLEN GOODS

Brown hands are red in the white sea 
Picking white things in the scorching yellow 
Tired drops of sweat fall from the bodies 

Skin deep beauty stolen from the Mother Land 
Forced to travel in hell on water 
Brought to the White Land to serve the superior 

Cry little girl don't you stop 
For your mami and daddy are rotting fruits on a tree 
Soon master will grab your brown neck with his white claws 

Billie Holiday sweetly sang in Strange Fruit: 
"Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh 
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh" 

The stolen goods 

Properties in a land where color is sin 

But now they are spirits and alive in death 
For in Heaven power voices sweetly sing: "FREEDOM AT LAST!

Author's Note

Look up the song Strange Fruit by Billie Holiday on YouTube

Reviews

[Tricia O'Brien]

Holy hell.
Emmie, you rock. That is solid and I dig for sure. Wild. I really don't know what to say other than, wow.
Keep those lines flowing

[EMMIE]

thank ya lol

[Sethnicity]

Damn! you grab reality by the Chode, Pull and Twist!
Structure? Check
Graphic? Check
Poetic?... Check
Easy to Read?... Hell to F****n No!, Not even in cashmere blankets with down feather bedding and Hot Coco!

Great Job! Mission Accomplished!

[EMMIE]

Ha ha ha. the best review ever! Thanks!

[Samuel Dickens]

Yes, I'm familiar with that song. This is powerful stuff, capable of seizing the hearts of us who have hearts. For some, I guess nothing will ever bring them around, though we must continue to hope.

[EMMIE]

Thank you so much!

[Judas Hammer]

powerful yet subversive.....I really like this and it counters against the non culture youth coming up. This is a great proud piece. Powerful

[Tree]

Inspirational and thought provoking. And after reading this metaphorically powerful piece ...I'm going straight to some Billie Holiday now

[EMMIE]

Lol, good for you Billie is amazing! Thank you!

[John Alexander McFadyen]

An excellent anti slavery piece with good metaphor use and good flow. The Billie Holiday quote is nice.

[EMMIE]

Thank you much!

[J.V. Stanley]

Abel Meeropol originally wrote the lyrics to Strange Fruit as a poem. At the time it was thought to be strange that a white man be so moved enough to be inspired to write this poem. He eventually set it to music and it was picked up by Billie Holiday. The strong lyrics of that song match the strong words you have within this piece. We all get inspired, heck some of the poetry that I read inspires me especially because most of the time I can relate in some way to what the author is saying.

[EMMIE]

Very true. Thank you!

[Coyote Poetry]

I like the reference to the good music and the strong poetry. Poetry support to make you think. Your poem did. Life lead us to good and bad places. Sometime the last stop the pain. A very nice ending to a outstanding poem.
Coyote

[EMMIE]

Thank you, Coyote!

[MOON]

Powerful moving write , stolen lives , haunting song too.

[EMMIE]

Thank you much!

[afra]

amazing write

[EMMIE]

Appreciate =)