Ghosts

Were they brought from
the Cape Coast Castle
or Fort Christiansborg?
Scipeo, Jeffrey and Rose
and the one who is not named,
was their lineage lost
in time, in sea, in waves?
All I’ll ever know is that
they came –
into the jaws of depravity
they came, yes, they came –
Jeffrey,
Scipeo,
Rose,
and the one who is not named.
Say their names
again and again –
Scipeo,
Jeffrey,
Rose,
and the one who is not named.

The stealing of bodies
from African shores
is a legacy carried
by a leaky ship
where decency drowns
on a passage deep
salvaging bone and hand
and back –
but never souls.
Souls belong
to the brave alone.
Scipeo, Rose
and Jeffrey
and the one who is not named
saying their names
again and again.

The chalkboard is erased.
The shoulder flicks the dust.
The sheer chicanery
brings to life
the now that never was.
The reckoning of
the past hangs like
a shingle lost
to the rooftop nail.
How to keep poison at bay
before infection sets into the bone?
Fly on the winds of change
and say their names
say their names
Rose
Scipeo
Jeffrey
and the slave who was unnamed.
Say their names.
Say their names.
Yes, one slave was unnamed.

Can we save humanity
from mankind?
The chain of compassion
will free us all. Only
in the rising of African souls
can the world be made whole.

‘Negro man named Jeffrey
Negro woman named Rose
Little Negro boy named Scipeo
4 Negroes 40 pounds’
From the will of Henry Head dated August 20, 1716 Little Compton, Rhode Island (at the time part of Massachusetts)