New Deal, No Mule

By Julie A Dickson

Cotton familiarity, certainly,
reparation absent, disparity
of races, apparent then, in lack
of mule plus 40 acres promised,
disconcerted, hired workers
of color, tried to transcend past
inequity, berated frequently,
repeatedly as subservient, un-
respected and mostly suspected
crime, intrusion, caucasian
collusion to diminish pride, worth
taken from generations passed,
freed at last, initial celebration,
only to face abrasive resentful
looks; reduced to history books,
lacking accurate depiction;
emancipation but cost high,
standing by fields, fruitful cotton
yield, in actuality, little more
than poverty revealed after 150
years freed, more than 50 since
King; other than fortunate few,
in contrast, bring home a living
inadequate, still cast in ill light;
not much has changed, reality
skewed, not equal exactly –
time to review, renew deal.

Julie A. Dickson is a poet and young adult fiction writer who addresses issues of environment, human and animal rights, and nature. Her work appears in journals including Ekphrastic Review, Sledgehammer, Open Word and Avocet. Dickson advocates for captive zoo and circus elephants and shares her home with two rescued feral cats, Cam and Claire. She is a Push Cart Prize nominee and serves on the board of the Poetry Society of New Hampshire. Her full length works are available on Amazon.

Photo credit: Tyler Merbler via a Creative Commons license.

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