Chained Dust Poem by udoh etido

A life of service;
my youth heavy laden;
A life between huts;
daily answering to my mistress' call.

Silos abound;
made strong by my hands;
Corn fields lay vast;
my nights ever in demise.

A slave i stand;
in a land afar;
My culture in the ground;
my owners never glad.

I work through the ages;
the moon never seem to waken;
My thoughts ever in the dust;
my master, my only lord.

Is life not free? ;
is nature ever in grief? ;
Do the Stars weep? ;
Does the Earth sleep?

Questions in rage;
my womanhood ever shamed.

My mistress departs today;
the night turned to day;
A strange culture i behold;
demanding my soul to strange holes.

A slave i stand;
my hands ever tied;
A saying i never have;
my garments shame my pride.

My mistress departs today;
her breath taken away;
A culture's strange demands;
my soul ever in the ground.

Caskets built;
standing a tall refuge;
Caskets not for one;
my life be bound to her doors.

My mistress departs today;
my life will tread her way.

My breath taken away;
my death, a culture's say.