Indentured Servants, Enslaved People, Marginalized Voices in Poetry
Honor the ancestors whose stories were silenced, but not lost.
NOTE: I’ve arranged my publication dates for Wednesdays as I work around providing care to my lovely grandsons. My apologies for no forewarning, but life is what it is. Thank you for sticking with me!
Family trees often carry silences within generations where lives were marked by hardship, servitude, or erasure. Writing poetry about these ancestors calls forth truth, compassion, and remembrance. Through words, we can acknowledge their struggles and honor the strength that helped future generations survive. These poems are not just art; they are acts of recognition.
If you have indentured servants, enslaved individuals, or other marginalized voices in your family tree, you may learn that they were not without words, but they were not permitted to speak them. Look at their actions, because actions often speak louder than words.
Poetry Form Spotlight: The Pantoum
The pantoum uses repeating lines to echo memory and rhythm, making it ideal for expressing endurance, injustice, and generational echo. Each stanza’s second and fourth lines reappear as the next stanza’s first and third lines, weaving a pattern of remembrance.
🪶 Tip: Use the repetition to emphasize survival, pain, or persistence — the things that echo across generations.
Pantoum from Poets.org
Pantoum from Wikipedia
How to Write a Pantoum Poem from Writers.com
Mini-Prompt
Write a pantoum that begins with:
“Their names were never written down…”
Read more at the article, Indentured Servants, Enslaved People, Marginalized Voices in Poetry, at Goin’ Poetic. You’ll find a reading list as well as a checklist to use before you begin to write your poem.
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