I freed the slaves,
the ones I’ve chained
to my inner plantation,
the shadow ground tilled
with fear of wrong doing,
the harvest of insecurity
I continued to reap
by keeping chattel
in irons forged
with accusation,
the hammer and tong
of lies and betrayal,
ancestral bitterness
locking their images
into a recurring nightmare;
then the proclamation came
on a sudden shaft
of unfettered thought,
realizing the evil
was no longer needed,
the plantation liberated,
captives freed who released
freed me for a new land
beyond the hovels and tired labor
where earth breathes
on the rise and fall
of freedom’s heartbeat
precious to every living thing.