Black History Month Poet Corner 

I Love You,  Pretty Black Woman  by Maria

Cowboy John Ware (1845-1905) An ex-slave from Texas

I Love You, Pretty Black Woman
Enslaved against your will
Unable to go
Unable to roam
Unable to seek
You had no choices
The circumference of your life
was binding
You could make no decisions
Yet still, you remain nameless, voiceless
Your name was lost among the lists
Possibly never recorded
Maybe never considered
Yet still, we see your Beauty
Yet still, we see God's Love in You
Yet still, we know that you are God's child
You made due with all of this
Oh But Freedom
Birthing the white man mulatto children
That he profited from his own
And who are they today?
Are they black?
Are they white?
And who are you today?
I Love You, Pretty Black Woman
Your eyes seem to stare into oblivion
Blankly
Your man is silenced, voiceless, powerless
But not emasculated
Oh But Freedom
What are your thoughts right now
Is your life lived in daily shock
Atrocities
Your eyes cannot believe
Unbearable visions
Oh But Freedom
And yet you survived
And yet you endured
And yet you continued to birth
The Nations
I Thank You, Pretty Black Woman
You made it work
You had to
So that you could stay alive
So that you could see freedom
So that you could see your children's freedom
So that your children could have free children
So that their children could have free children
I Love You, Pretty Black Woman
I Thank You, Pretty Black Woman
For it is because of you, your strength, your spirit, and your endurance,
that I could be born free