Carrie Mae Wees,
From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried, 1995-1996. [x]
FROM HERE I SAW WHAT HAPPENED
YOU BECOME A SCIENTIFIC PROFILE
A NEGROID TYPE
AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL DEBATE
& A PHOTOGRAPHIC SUBJECT
YOU BECAME MAMMIE, MAMA, MOTHER & THEN, YES, CONFIDANT – HA
DESCENDING THE THRONE YOU BECAME FOOT SOLDIER & COOK
YOU BECAME UNCLE TOM JOHN & CLEMENS’ JIM
DRIVERS
RIDERS & MEN OF LETTERS
YOU BECAME A WHISPER A SYMBOL OF A MIGHTY VOYAGE & BY THE SWEAT OF YOUR BROW YOU LABOURED FOR SELF FAMILY & OTHERS
FOR YOUR NAMES YOU TOOK HOPE & HUMBLE
BLACK AND TANNED YOUR WHIPPED WIND OF CHANGE HOWLED LOW BLOWING ITSELF – HA – SMACK INTO THE MIDDLE OF ELLINGTON’S ORCHESTRA BILLIE HEARD IT TOO & CRIED STRANGE FRUIT TEARS
BORN WITH A VEIL YOU BECAME ROOT WORKER JUJU MAMA VOODOO QUEEN HOODOO DOCTOR
SOME SAID YOU WERE THE SPITTING IMAGE OF EVIL
YOU BECAME PLAYMATE TO THE PATRIARCH
AND THEIR DAUGHTER
YOU BECAME AN ACCOMPLICE
OUT OF DEEP RIVERS MIXED-MATCHED MULATTOS A VARIETY OF TYPES MIND YOU – HA SPRANG UP EVERYWHERE
YOUR RESISTANCE WAS FOUND IN THE FOOD YOU PLACED ON THE MASTER’S TABLE – HA
YOU BECAME THE JOKER’S JOKE &
ANYTHING BUT WHAT YOU WERE HA
SOME LAUGHED LONG & HARD & LOUD
OTHERS SAID “ONLY THING A NIGGAH COULD DO WAS SHINE MY SHOES”
YOU BECAME BOOTS, SPADES & COONS
RESTLESS AFTER THE LONGEST WINTER YOU MARCHED & MARCHED & MARCHED
IN YOUR SING SONG PRAYER YOU ASKED DIDN’T MY LORD DELIVER DANIEL?
AND I CRIED