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Was or Wasn’t?
by Anna D.
She was enslaved, yet she was free.
She was held back, yet she accomplished.
She was persecuted, yet she endured.
She was trapped, yet she escaped.
She was tired, yet she worked.
She was loving, yet it was difficult to support her children.
She was disregarded, yet she made herself known.
She was a woman, yet she was treated like a young girl.
She was treated unfairly, yet she was human.
Not really free
1791, Reverend Todd’s will says you are free.
He is dead.
You should be free when he is dead.
But you decide you can’t be free,
You go back for the good of yourself and your children.
His nephew, he doesn’t want you,
A new law has come out saying he does not need to care for you anymore.
He doesn’t want to take care of you,
He makes you feel like a burden.
He frees you, again.
So you go to the Almshouse,
It’s like a jail, you don’t want to be there.
But it is the safest,
So you weave, and cook, and work.
All you want is justice.
What a name means
Is it Lettice
Or Lettuce
Is it Bailey
Or Baily
Was she married
Or not
Did she have three children
Or six
Nobody cared.
Lettuce did.
We do,
But she doesn’t know that.
Why?
Lettuce was enslaved.
Why?
Was she less intelligent?
No, she was not.
Was she less useful?
No, she was not.
Was she less important?
No, she was not.
Was she less kind?
No, she was not.
Was she a human?
Yes, she was.
So the question is - why?
Why was she treated like an object,
when she was just as human as everybody else.
She gave all her energy,
For what?
Anna's artwork.
Author’s Statement
My intention in writing this poetry collection was that I wanted people to feel empathy for Lettuce and how dehumanizing Reverend Todd was. I did this with repetition in the format of most of my poems because I feel that repeating different lines the same way helps make you feel what's going on in the poem better. I hope people remember that Lettuce was just as human as everybody around her, and that she should be treated like one, not like an animal. I think she deserves the recognition she never got for all her hard work. I made sure the format of my poem helped me tie in historical knowledge. My biggest challenge was that I had to assume many things about Lettuce’s life because of all the missing pieces in her story.
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