THE SHIP

The ship is setting off

perhaps for the longest time...

No Harbor filled with well wishers to bid her fond farewell

a gush of wind beneath her sails 

to halt the day and dwell ...

A bone did shiver, for this journey

 was not meek nor was it  mild 

 to carry fear through her raw black hurt 

for deep inside she carried child ...

Bound for pastures new
they said
"to court the Devil"

Amid the breakers and the coral

 gliding east it's 6 am

 her cargo to grow heavier by the day 

and  all the while her bright blessed smile 

could spirit sorrow clean away

for the wind it howled beneath the masts 

 exhausted us upon the waves 

the boat did bend and the boat did sway 

and carry cargo of it's Slaves

 Away to foreign climbs 
adrift her heart is torn 

and on the decks

 beneath the screams  
New sons of Africa be born ...




(c) Helena C Carta