Baa Baa / Black Sheep

iii

One for the master / in Georgia / who stuffed his chair with slave

hair / it nearly felt like wool / comfy and convenient / This pipe-

smoking pig / whom I cannot but imagine / his hardened legs /

lounging on the beaten back of a vassal / a vase / anything that

can break

And one for the dame / down Louisiana / who sipped tea from a

cup / so white her servants wore gloves / whenever they set the

tray / Desdemona she’s called / and one fateful afternoon / she

fucked / the strongest Negro slave against his will / hands on his

throat / threatening to call rape

And one for Olaudah / captured at eleven / from his homeland /

without his mamma / but with memory / I imagine him onboard

/ listening to the dip of the ship’s bow / ferrying & ferrying &

ferrying / into a land that would never / belong to him

Notes:

The last stanza of this poem is inspired by “Woke” by Roger Robinson, from the poet’s collection, A Portable Paradise (Peepal Tree Press, 2019).

Source: Poetry (April 2022)