Declaration

By Tracy K. Smith
He has
 
              sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people
 
He has plundered our—
 
                                           ravaged our—
 
                                                                         destroyed the lives of our—
 
taking away our­—

                                  abolishing our most valuable—

and altering fundamentally the Forms of our—

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for
Redress in the most humble terms:
 
                                                                Our repeated
Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury.
 
We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration
and settlement here.
 
                                    —taken Captive
                                              
                                                                    on the high Seas
 
                                                                                                     to bear—
 
Copyright Credit: Tracy K. Smith, "Declaration" from Wade in the Water.  Copyright © 2018 by Tracy K. Smith.  Reprinted by permission of Graywolf Press, www.graywolfpress.org.