Michaela's Poetry

Definitions

by Michaela T.

The definition of property is:

“A thing or things belonging to someone; possessions collectively.”

The definition of a slave is:

“A person who is the legal property of another and is forced to obey them.”

Does this really sum up the lives of so many before us?

People who went through more than we could ever imagine,

Don’t deserve 15 words to describe what they went through.

Tamar,

A caregiver,

Weaver,

Grandmother,

Mother,

Cook

Those 15 words don’t explain who she was.

Born in 1744, Guinea Africa.

Experienced the Middle Passage.

Crammed into a small boat with a few others,

No room to move around.

Not knowing what the future will hold.

Taken together,

Tortured together.

“A thing or things belonging to someone; possession collectively.”

“A person who is the legal property of another and is forced to obey them.”

Strong,

Forgiving,

Caring,

Ambitious,

Dedicated,

Sincere,

Wholehearted,

Genuine,

Strong-willed,

Determined,

Attentive,

Thoughtful,

Considerate,

Compassionate,

Empathetic.

These are the words,

That describe who she really was.

We believe this is the 15 word definition Tamar deserves.

Michaela’s Statement:

The reason I decided to write about definitions is because Tamar was more than just the definition of an enslaved person. When we first started our research, we didn’t know anything about her personality or her family; we just knew a ton of disparate facts. So in this poem I wanted to show that Tamar is just like everyone else. My main goal was to honor her interiority and her humanity. I especially felt the need to do that because when I was writing my Tamar biography I focused on the facts but didn’t touch very much on who she was as a person. Hopefully my poem showed a greater meaning of her and that she has emotions and feelings just like the rest of us do.