Day 83

"...one ought every day at least to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words." -Goethe

A poem for today: "Declaration" by Tracy K. Smith

Declaration 

 

BY TRACY K. SMITH

He has

              sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people

He has plundered our—

                                           ravaged our—

                                                                         destroyed the lives of our—

taking away our­—

                                  abolishing our most valuable—

and altering fundamentally the Forms of our—

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for

Redress in the most humble terms:

                                                                Our repeated

Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury.

We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration

and settlement here.

                                    —taken Captive

                                              

                                                                    on the high Seas

                                                                                                     to bear—

A song for today: D'Angelo "Prayer"

Works Cited

D'Angelo. "Prayer." Black Messiah, RCA, 2014.

Smith, Tracy K. "Declaration." Poetryfoundation.org. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/147468/declaration-5b5a286052461. Accessed 4 June 2020.