A Student's Poem inspired by the Melungeon Story

"Free people of color

no rights, no respect

Free people of color

is it injustice I detect?

Life and you did not

treat these people kind

Life and you did not

hide all the evidence they could find

Hidden for years

their past so unsure

Hidden for years

the pain these people endured

Lies and tales so awful

made to disgrace

Lies and tales so awful

like spit in their face.

Oppressed longer than many

they had no choice

oppressed longer than many

they had no voice.

Fighting to recover

the past so brutily erased

Fighting to recover the past

so they can die with grace.

'Nicki' Bates
1997-98

Brandy Nicole Bates
Senior, J. J. Kelly High School
Wise, Virginia "