Then And Now

Once we were free

              somewhere else

                        or so they say.

Then we were slaves

              somewhere closer

                       or so they say.

Then we were freed

               somewhere near

                       or so they say.

And now,

what are we now

               here?

And what am I now

a young woman

               here?

I don’t feel free

               here

                     whatever they’re saying

now.

I listen out for them still

but now

                      they have nothing to say

for me

               here

                      me, a woman of colour.

https://edgeofhumanity.com/2024/11/12/then-and-now/