1920

Amid the grand people, places, and occurences written into our history often are forgotten the humble souls within whose stories lie the true lessons of history's "Big Picture."

 

I done all de work …      

 

Plowed de mules

Chopped de cotton

Cleared de forest

Lined de track.

 

I war’nt no trouble

I said yas suh

and no ma’am

I was mos’ a durn good hand.

 

Given ol’ Marse nineteen  chi’ren …

all boys to work  de fields

‘ceptin’ one onliest daughter 

for de Big House kitchen  ‘n ol' Marse’s bed

 

An’ when I died

they buried me in de field

b’hind the quarters

under a cypress tree.

 

I met my grandson today

an’ knowed  then the fruits of ma work

was watchin' his lifeless feets

... dangling from above.

 

 

Reviews

[Dunlack]

nice work

[Birdman313]

awesome enjoyed the is poem,,,, takes you back to the slave days

[Fred Hampton]

I like the unexpected ending. It gives it a surprising twist.

[E. L. Foley]

A chilling image.

[VincentRayne]

Very well written. I wrote a longer review but the internet temporarily shut down and I lost it. But every else points out what I said. The accent and the ending make this a truely powerful poem. Very well done.

[Larry Dyson]

excellent

[Linka and Lirrie]

This is a bit sad, but the beginning was awsome. I loved the old english accent as well. Keep up the good work.

[Hipster Detective]

The ending gives a bit of a chill. All in all, the combination of the language and the story behind it makes this really good.

[Tea And A Cheshire Smil..]

Extremely powerful. The ending really left me thinking and I have a feeling this will be one of the poems that I remember for a while to come. Brilliantly written, and thought provoking.

[Ladysue]

Oh, this was very powerful they way you written this, the language really made an impact. Sad, but written so effectively...great work...