Feedback on self published history ode
I am seeking feedback and advice on the following historical poem. My goals are to have the poem published and distributed by a (main stream) publishing company. I would also like the poem to be included in literature textbooks.
Why did these Great People Bend?
It seemed to be a bad dream
in the year Sixteen and nineteen
about people distinct and diverse
yet all called Africans or the curse
tongues as varied as their names
called out their tribes and did proudly proclaim
Yoruba! Wolof! and Igbo!
Mande! Akan! and Ba-kon-go!
Brought from the land
of the very first man
to the Virginia colony
picking tobacco making others money
forced to fi ll old croaker sacks
these Great People bent their backs.
Why did these Great People Bend?
Seventeen and ninety-three
a gin for cotton was created by Whitney
second wave of Great People bent
filling sacks with cotton was their stint
copper, brass, bronze, gold
shimmered in the sun until they glowed.
Amber, topaz, opal, jet
skins of these Great People glistened with sweat
some chanced running away
others waited day by day
across The Belt they worked and toiled
until Surrender was the Lost Cause finally foiled.
Why did these Great People Bend?
Eighteen hundred and sixty-five
all were happy to be alive
this hard fought day of Jubilee
finally arrived and came to be
led by the North’s most favored son
the Civil War was Unconditionally won
skies filled with shouts, shots, cheers
Music quieted, confetti cleared
the Children of these Great People
returned to picking cotton
for profits former masters
had not forgotten
seeing bent black backs reengage
was not just peculiar, it was an outrage
this time, the people were free!
Free to live in the same slave shack
free to work but still have lack
not enough food, clothes, necessities
not enough honor, humanity, equalities
free to exchange master for boss
free to work for pay at a steady loss
same work, same condition
debt was reality, not manumission
freedom was a delusional brag
still bent over, still filling bags
Why did these Great People Bend?
Hearing Jim Crow in a new century
the children of the Great People again began to flee
deep into the black, Southern midnight
now aboard iron horses they searched for new light
to Chicago, Detroit, Cincinnati they fled
to Philadelphia, Boston, Harlem they sped
lands of opportunity they sought.
Lands of segregation they got.
Opportunity
for another’s house to clean
Opportunity
for crafts and unions to demean
Opportunity
to live in another inadequate quarter
the children once again bent over
bent over someone else’s stove
cooking someone else’s meal
bent over someone else’s shovel
enduring someone else’s chill
bent over a drink or a drug trying to find joy, forget pain
for Northern segregation was a sly, covert, unyielding chain.
Why did these Great People Bend?
The sixties was a decade of death
as martyrs drew their final breath
Sixty-three, sixty-five and sixty-eight
Medgar, Malcolm and Martin
met their final fate
the children took to the streets
they stood up strong
that only lasted so long.
Billy clubs, hoses, Shepherds
gashed flesh open
children bent, covered, curled
all the while coping
praying that their suffering would appeal
to a higher conscious, a New iDeal
despite securing Civil Rights as law
some hearts still just would not thaw.
Why did these Great People Bend?
With a new disease of massive devastation
the AIDies was a decade of unparalleled desolation
AIDS, teen pregnancy, school dropouts, unemployment,
Crack, gangs, police brutality, shooting for enjoyment,
public school enrollees decreased
private jail parolees increased
jobs declined
population climbed
the Klan with shepherds marching past the corner store
was replaced by gangs with pits posted up for a corner score.
Drugs was the new chain of slavery used
caught hold of anyone who abused
those who baked it, caked it, sold it were not exempt
yet those who used it were unmercifully pimped
young poets like ‘pac and Biggie cried out in rhyme
too many left us before their time
in the past the hate came from them
in the Eighties the hate grew from within
these Great People bent not just due to dope
these Great People bent because they saw no hope.
Why did these Great People Bend?
Upon The Founding Franklin declared a rising sun
in Two thousand eight rose a Western one
Obama and Biden were the Democrats’ voice
with hopes of becoming America’s choice
the children were bent over still
this time of their own will.
They bent over tables to register and write checks
they bent over machines to vote and elect
they bent over yards to post signs
they bent over for reasons of a different kind
the children of these Great People bent in toil
to later stand in the victory royal!
The results of the race plainly stated
it was President, that Obama was delegated.
Sable beauty on his arm
this Nubian Knight redefined charm
Why did these Great People Bend?
Twenty thirteen is the year we’re in
why do the children of these Great People still bend?
why are they filling sacks again?
why do they fill them with a grin?
they are not filling the sacks alone
they are joined by people of every tone
people of each and every age
people of every earning wage
some have abundant learning and education
others sport more street information.
There is no hint of any diffusion
though they hail from every state in the union
Maryland, Virginia, out west, in Nebraska
Indiana, Ohio, even Russia’s neighbor, Palin’s Alaska
also from the Proud Republic of Haiti
to the Great South African nation
they come to fill sacks
for this 57th Inaugural celebration
bearing news that Barak Hussein Obama will 4 four more years lead
they gladly bend to see him succeed
at the parade they march and they drum
like their beautiful African ancestors had done.
Why did these Great People Bend?
These Great People bent through slavery and the cotton gin
their Children bent through sharecropping and cold, Northern wind
they bent through both Southern and Northern segregation,
bent through lynching, drug wars and racial discrimination.
Today, the children of the Great People bend no longer
with others they stand united
to defend a future that will be forever stronger!
And that is why Those Great People bent.
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