Slave Story

If you be runnin, dere is a place
fa’ fa’ away. Nobody go dere anymo’.

But dey’ll catch ya, whoever dey is.
Dey always do. Why do ya tink I’m here?

Ya, dey’ll catch ya. But dey’s a place—
Dere’s one place where nobody kin catch ya.

But it ain’t easy to get dere.
It ain’t easy to get nowhere, anyhow.

Ya gotta run a tousand miles and a tousand days
an’ den you get to where the sun is risin’—

Ya gotta be heading east, ya see. Always east.
Dat’s da place where da earf and sky meet.

It ain’t easy to get dere. Dey’ll catch ya.
But once ya get dere, you kin see da sun rise

right in front ‘o you, like a sweet ear o’ corn
swaying in da mornin’ breeze.

Den, you kin climb up on da sun rays
and you kin ride dat sun all da way to da top o’ da sky

and you kin watch da earf fall away from da dawn.
If you be runnin, dat’s where ya gotta go.

But it ain’t easy to get dere. I tried.
Dey caught me, anyhow.

It ain’t easy to get nowhere, anyhow.
It ain’t easy to get nowhere but dead.

© copyright by Isabelle Lahaie, 2010