ENOCH JOHN (30/07/1958 / TRINIDAD and TOBAGO)

She,
She grew up as a tender plant,
She, Ebony;
She, Baby faced darling, then.

Now, mistress of all she surveys.
She remembers.................
It wasn't easy on the way up:
The persecution.
The prejudices,
Sometimes disguised
Most times openly displayed.

She remembers....................
She is identified with suffering;
She remembers the middle passage.,

And the beatings,
And the scourgings,
The sickness and the suffering,
The incessant pain,
Utter degradation;
being made to feel lower than the animals.

Now her heart leaps for joy
She has overcome
All the obstacles
Of Race and Colour,
Blind prejudice and hatred.

She has come of age,
She, Ebony;
She, the least
Now, She the accomplished;
The epitome of womanhood,
And breeding,
And standards
By which others are measured.
yes, She;

She,
She, Ebony
Has arrived.