How Much They Had To Bear

how much they had to bear merely for spice and silk,
for teas all those mariners, explorers
putting out to sea

to regions, routes unknown
how much more those torn
from home never to see again

their own blue mountains
and the savannahs, only in dreams
mid scream, in silence, tears the horror filled reckoning

of where they had to be, slowly, settling in.

how can we pay them back the years, the centuries
they lost, their God given time on earth dispersed
in slavery

only the blood of Christ can mend.
I think back then when we were young
imagining pirates and the treasure they found

we didn't know that men were bound and gagged
thrown over board on land

while preachers preached as preachers can 

obedience as in the Greek
there were slave and free
as if that were how it's supposed to be

my God. forgive the double edged tongue
the shady groves of Kingdom Come
the riches from vile sorrows wrung

the child in exile from the mother's love.

the sweet, the sweet and ravished doves.

dear God dear God what have we done oh
let clear liberty ring again
for all of those whom our God called men

someday to say that we were all friends in Eden
before we let the Serpent in.
and only in God

may we be, again.

mary angela douglas 26 july 2019