Watching Ships Go FreeA Poem by Doug BlairStirring Image in the Biography of Frederick Douglass
With work at bay
On Sabbath day I roam the shores Of Chesapeake. I dream a time Of rest sublime So different I Can barely speak. And ships visit And ships exit And ply the Main Where’er they will. While I must sweat And toil and fret A chattel and A sad slave still. It haunts the soul As billows roll And ebb and flow Near Baltimore. They whisper dreams And freedom’s schemes I’ve only read At night before. And reading brings A hope that sings A life that could Be mine to dare. With purpose new A wife’s love too And labour clean And good, somewhere. To make the break For Frederick’s sake, Once fatherless And “good for naught”. I first must plan And play the man And thrill at freedom’s Slightest thought. © 2012 Doug Blair |
StatsAuthorDoug BlairWaterloo, Ontario, CanadaAboutIn my sixties. Married. Father of two. Disillusioned lawyer who put on the blue collar. Poet. Blogger. Nature hiker. Newsboy for Jesus. Lover of most things Scots. more..Writing
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