It Was The Mother Of Sins Poem by Francis Kokutse

I have been to Goree and cried
that men created by God tried
and subjected other beings to a sin
that was so horrible to be seen
yet has shown no remorse.

The mother of all sins committed
by people who said they liberated
my fathers' fathers and then destroyed
their soul by damaging their dignity.

Then on my journey to Elmina l saw sin
the type of inhuman act that no man has seen
since the beginning of time to degrade another;
their grandfathers did sin in order
to make my grandfathers work for them
for nothing from the rising of the sun
till the sun went down.

These are the people whose children
now teach what it is to sin aganist another
telling what wrong it is to do injustice to another.
Did their grandfathers know about injustice?

Our sweat and toil has remained unrecognised
and our children have become tools for them
to use the way it fits them best.

How can those sins past be atoned?
How can we forgive those injustices?
Can we ever forget mourning?

The walls of Goree and Elmina
keep torturing me daily on what
sin was committed long, long ago
but we the children have take the
counsel to remain silent and wait
for the blood of our fathers' fathers
to plead our case for us.