Alex's Poetry

A Woman to be Remembered

by Alexander P.

Waves hitting the boat from every direction.

People bunched up from ceiling to floor,

from wall to wall with no space to spare

The Middle Passage was a trip of despair.

Finally, it all stopped,

The waves, the wind, the commotion.

For a moment it seemed that all was well,

She had survived the Middle Passage,

But only to fall into the hands of Jonathan Todd.

And then she entered a new life,

A life of being enslaved.

Where she was treated like an object bought from a store.

But she was much more than that,

She was much more than an item you would see on a shopping list.

She was a cook, a caregiver, a mother, a wife, and a weaver.

She was a human being.

Her name was Tamar.

Tamar isn’t just a name.

It represents a woman,

A woman who cared for others,

Who loved and cared for the nephew of her enslaver.

It represents a caregiver,

A cook, a weaver,

And most importantly,

A survivor.

Alex’s Statement

I wrote my poem about Tamar for a few reasons. I believe poetry has the ability to express things extremely well. It leaves a deeper impact on the reader compared to a short story. In poetry, you have a limited number of words on the page so the words you end up using in your poem are meaningful. Poetry is unique and beautiful in its own way, and no two poems are ever the same. I was motivated to write a poem because I have read amazing poems that have had a huge impact on me and I wanted to write a poem about Tamar to remember her legacy.