The Migration Series Narrative Poem

“They Were Very Poor”

60 years they traveled up

Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee.

No more violence no more floods no more hate

said no one

Gathered their belongings

Bid farewell to their families

It was easy

said no one

Amidst the war new opportunity

Soldiers’ service meant

Higher wages, improved housing, a new beginning

For everyone!

But not everyone

Waves of migrants poured north

A waterfall flowing upward

But rocks, trees, fish

Fed from that water

Arrests en masse

Trains like deer in headlights

Not so easy to just gather their belongings

And say goodbye

And have the resources

And escape the riots and the lynchings

And outlast the maladies

And find a job

And a home

And security

So some stayed

Where they had built businesses

And fostered generations of family

Procreation and cultural maintenance were essential

So why leave and gather their belongings

If the north wasn’t all that great?

Well the North wasn’t the South

In the North they had the freedom to vote

In the North they had at least a chance

In the North they still had church

In the North they had more education

But then the South was deserted

Communities were disintegrated

Like a tornado had come and swept up history

Those that remained though made sure

They maintained life and culture

So that when they returned for a second migration

They wouldn’t be poor