Our Forgotten Grandmother

She stood there alone.

She was an innocent girl marginalized by the concupiscence of man. An auctioneer's hammer came down and stentorian screams howled out lustfully toward the new prey on the stand. 

Bare and surrounded she stood there crying on the stand.

Eyes peered at her lustfully and she saw young men licking their lips. A woman in the crowd mentioned she could have more children because of the width of her hips. An auctioneer's helper came and squeezed her nubile breasts. She cried out for help in her father's tongue but no one knew or cared about what she said. Laughter roared out from the crowd as another helper told her to be silent as he roughly pulled the hair on the back of her head. 

She was deemed to be property.

They sold her whole and stifled all her mortal protests. She lost her bones, muscles, and blood and later her new owner stole her innocent virgin flesh. No one cared as her tears fell down like rivers while she was led away to an unknown land. She had no father, mother, or brother to snatch her away from her corrupt owner's hand. He groped at her body and whipped away the joy she had inside. He stole her away into Babylon to strip away all her hope, love, and pride. 

She was our grandmother. 

She exists in every one of our familial lines.

Have you ever thought about her? 

Have you ever considered what she gave up and left behind?

So many of our people don't even know her name. We are all born of her bosom, but too many of us have forgotten her pain. She was stripped of her moral destiny to be the nurturer and mother of both the Black and White man. She provided guidance and love to all of our brothers and gave birth to an America she was never allowed to understand. 

I cry for our grandmothers. I know that heaven has elevated them to a worthy throne. They now stand in splendor, a long way from that auctioneer's block where she felt helpless, worthless, and alone.

Reviews

[Robert Haigh]

Britain, like America, has a dark past regarding the capture and selling of native Africans as slaves. Some cities were built from money made from the slave trade. The shame is eternal. Slavery is still a reality in the world today... man's inhumanity to man.

[Julie McCarthy (juliesp..]

Amazing write
I felt her pain and loss of her freedom as I read your poem

[alanwgraham]

Superb Eddie. We must remember the cruelty of the past and also realise that slavery is still happening today.
Well done for sharing.
All the best,
Alan

[Arundass TP]

Heart touching poetry. Each line hold power.