Off Course

By AW

The slave ship that doesn’t move
Nor never ever set sail
Motionless is it rooted
To the earth with no course

The middle passage of the mind
The children of slaves, no matter how
Many generations removed, are still
Slaves, when the mental chains
Are enforced with illusions of inclusion
Lebron James

Chow lines long and cold, economic foes
The mental sharks fed off of
The mental courses of dead and dying
Cattle dressed in Prada along
Middle Passage route,
On course to make a profit off of
Cargo of Black Gold
Lebron James

In dreams vividly, am I eaten alive
As I sink, thrown overboard
In chains and padlocks as if I am
Going to court on course to make a
Profit for the slave ship that sails
No more.

On the stock exchange
Black gold, Lebron James,
Are shiny Black bodies still
In ball and chains
Thanks to a clause in the 13th
Amendment: still are we
Cattle when duly convicted
Of a crime

On course to make a profit
Of course on this slave ship
That don’t sail no more
Called, not Jesus,
But the
Prison Industrial Complex

In the belly of this complex
Beast I’ve set for over 30 years
Longer than the life expectancy
Of my ancestors who thrown
Overboard, on the middle passage,
In the Atlantic Ocean into the
Cold waves, off course
Wasted profit
Of course.

4 Comments

  1. AMANDA THOMPSON on May 16, 2020 at 1:11 AM

    Wonderful. Thanks for sharing.

  2. kassidilenae on May 27, 2020 at 12:41 PM

    AW,

    This is a very powerful poem. I have read your poem 3 times and still I am speechless. Your symbolism and metaphors are so intuitive and your message is strong and genuine. Keep seeking justice. It is your will and your words that make you strong.

    Keep writing!

  3. Jaycee Silva on June 19, 2020 at 2:39 PM

    This is a strong story and I really like how you used metaphors throughout. I imagine the prison system as the giant slave ship referenced in the beginning and the justice system profits of it.

  4. Catherine on June 23, 2020 at 8:03 AM

    I love how you compare the past and present to demonstrate how what is often perceived as growth is often just racism by another name. The comparison of your time in jail versus the life expectancy of slaves forced to cross the Atlantic is chilling. I hope that our country can seize the moment to overhaul the policies that lead to this inequity and institutional racism.

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