By Tracy K. Smith
He has
sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people
He has plundered our—
ravaged our—
destroyed the lives of our—
taking away our—
abolishing our most valuable—
and altering fundamentally the Forms of our—
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for
Redress in the most humble terms:
Our repeated
Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury.
We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration
and settlement here.
—taken Captive
on the high Seas
to bear—
Tracy K. Smith, "Declaration" from Wade in the Water. Copyright © 2018 by Tracy K. Smith. Reprinted by permission of Graywolf Press, www.graywolfpress.org.
Poet Bio
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