a ballad for august morning

i bow to those who went before

bearing the hoe and long cane-bill

who wept and worked at others' will

till august eighteen-thirty-four

 

we make our choices know the score

believe we act with style and skill

but every option good or ill

begins in eighteen-thirty-four

 

the ships that took them to that shore

in stink of vomit shit and swill

rivers of ink and blood to spill

till august eighteen-thirty-four

 

we cannot tell how much they bore

which ones resisted which stood still

and fed the canes into the mill

till august eighteen-thirty-four

 

our duty now is not adore

but spread the word from plain and hill

that we bear their remembrance still

since august eighteen-thirty-four

 

to bow to those who went before

bearing the hoe and long cane-bill

who wept and worked at others' will

till august eighteen-thirty-four