Luke's poetry

Can you imagine?

by Luke P.

Can you imagine

Being taken from your home

Coming to an unfamiliar place where you don’t know anyone and you don't speak your language?

Can you imagine

Having your freedom taken away from you

Just so some person that you don’t know can have an easier life?

Can you imagine

Being a slave

Having to fight for your freedom

Which everyone has taken for granted in the mordern world?

Can you imagine

Being called a “pet” of someone?

We are all human beings here,

No one should own anyone.

This is America

The land of the free and the home of the brave

Can you imagine

Having to start your life with a cow, a loom, and some land?

You know who did it?

Tamar.

A woman who was taken from her home

Lost her freedom

And was made a “pet”

And somehow, when the dust settled,

She lived a long peaceful life after her enslavement.

Can you imagine?

Luke’s Statement

The reason I wrote this poem the way I did is because I wanted people to realize how lucky we are. I can’t imagine going through what Tamar went through. Doing this research made me realize this, and now I need to let others know. This poem shows this. Also, in the poem I say that Jonathan Todd made a “pet” of Tamar. According to a story told by Todd’s great nephew, he compares a pet to a slave. ) See Tamar: A Brief History for more information about this anecdote.)

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