|
|
| Print Version |
Poetry Slam
Silence by: Angelique V. Nixon
They treat Haitians like dogs in The Bahamas, a woman says.
To them we are not human. Even though their music sounds like ours.
Their people look like ours. Even though we had the same African fathers
who probably crossed the same seas together.
- Edwidge Danticat, "Children of the Sea"
so many silences
about Haitian Bahamians
so many silences
about who gets to stay and who gets throw away
so many silences
about the struggle, being human and used for labour
so many silences to teeth-sucking
moans of ěman, Bahamas too small, can't help erryoneî
but us is them, them is us
thru blood, ancestors, and many stories
so many silences to sip sip and talk
of sinking boats, shark infested waters, and missing bodies
so many silences to back and forth and back talk
fighting for fair treatment - to be better, humane, equal
so many silences about dese tings, holes in we history,
enslaved, we people chained and shackled,
oceans mixed in blood, sweat, and resistance
so we must fill the silences
with real talk, honest and dirty,
uncovering secrets and lies, joining the fight
so we must fill the silences
with understanding, stitching the holes,
filling the gaps, replacing fractures, no more blows
between us and them
between you and me
Submenu |
| < |
TOP |
> |
|
