I came from a land in the Gambia and was wrenched at the age twenty three. To be stripped and flogged, and sold like a dog in the new world across the sea. br What had I done, to deserve such wrath from my God I could not explain br My mind was awash with thoughts of home my woman, my children, my kin. br Destined for hell for me no doubt in this stinking pit we're in. br br Two hundred and forty were taken, and ninety eight arrived, br The whipping, the torture the obscene slaughter, br The only thing kept, was our pride. br After many moons on this giant ship, a foreign voice shouted 'Land Ahoy' br The white men excited at the land we had sighted, but for us there was simply no joy. br br We thought we had arrived in hell itself. We were the opposite of tame. br We had finally arrived in a place these white men called Annapolis, only it was hell, with a different name. Strange words and harsh looks, and the opening of books, what else did my God want from me? The man shouted 'These Negro's are a thousand dollars! ' 'Except for that baby it's free.' br br As I looked down at my feet a young baby was crying with zest br Away to the right a mother reached out to her baby that was snatched from her chest. br As a man slapped her face as a final disgrace I lost all control and my fear br I reached for his throat and started to choke, when my life's memories began to appear. An object. A gun, had ended my run in a flash my body fallen and splay. br And now my headstone. Without family or home. br I am buried, in the U.S of A.