SOMERSET ENCOUNTER

She's not the only ghost on the plantation.
Charlotte, I mean, the free Black on the third floor.

Some places on the grounds are heavy with the presences
of those who birthed and lived and worked and died here.

The crumbled piles of bricks that mark the hospital
have residue of agony energy.
And Lovey's rape by the soldier in the kitchen
      sometimes replays to make the sensitive uncomfortable enough
              to skip lunch,
      without knowing why.

Still, the overlay of life force
      is generally light. Sukey's children playing,
              and the simple earthy cycles of days and seasons--
      of working, cooking, eating, reproducing,
              celebrating life--
These are the things imprinted on this space.

The consciousness of being free or slave
was not in every moment.
Only some.

Life more important than the "way of life"
is what lives on.

KUNDALINI RISING:
Songs of Power and Spirit

by Honora Finkelstein