deepundergroundpoetry.com

The Queen's Steps

 
Deep in the heart of Nassau
There lies caverns of limestone  
Built by ten thousand hands
Under the crushing whip
 
The limestone crevices are cracked
As the skin of their backs  
Thirty meters up, the palms  
Droop like their eyes
 
Their distant children relay to me
The history, the memory  
Of suffering and slavery
Yet thanksgiving for a Queen
Who came across the sea to set them free  
 
A 96-step staircase they built
By their newly freed souls  
For her, their beloved Victoria  
Washed away their guilt  
And made their hearts whole
 
Standing in this space  
Feeling cold stone
I hear the cries
I hear the moans
 
How can I possibly explain
The discomfort at finding
Myself at the crossroads  
of beauty and agony  
 
I stop and gaze
Upon the imposing frame
Mercilessly imbedded into the rock wall  
No portrait . . .
Vacant  
 
As the slaves' homes in the hillside.
I tremble and shake  
at the horror of the institution:
A nightmare from which none wake.  
Written by TheMuses22 (Muse22)
Published | Edited 7th Oct 2016
All writing remains the property of the author. Don't use it for any purpose without their permission.
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