We Was Poem by Phillip Nine Mafunga

In caravans of chains through the jungles we was
By our kith and kin to the worlds unknown we was
By the shores of eternity, white gods awaited us
Like cattle, we were loaded into ships unfamiliar
Faced with unfathomable expanse of waters to the unknown
Kicking and screaming we was
Thunderous roars of waves breaking us free from who we was
Thumping rhythms of spiritual songs our communication
With whips, the white gods terrorized us
End to end the expanses of water stretched
Distances so furious, touching the very end of life as we knew it
Of the feeble among us, to the sea were fed
To the life we knew we was dead
Our traditions and identities into the depths of waters buried
Into the afterlife we was, as commodities
New names they gave us; new languages taught
Slavery robbed us of our humanity
Their plantations and mines we worked
Their homes, towns, and cities built
But were not allowed to live in them
After getting filthy rich from our sweat and brow, freed us
Freedom into emptiness; armed with slavery as a lifetime occupation
As we was then we still is even so today
PHILLIP NINE MAFUNGA
31 May 2020