Now “Massa” Loved Some Hunting: Thoughts on visiting a Georgian Plantations

By: aromaproductions on 8:12 PM

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Now “Massa” Loved Some Hunting.

(Thoughts on visiting a Georgian Plantation)

While visiting a Georgian plantation

I am told by the guide

that husbands and wives

slept in separate rooms

so husbands would not have to

wake wives at five in the morning

as they make ready to go hunting,

and I am thinking

“Massa” may not be out hunting at all.

The bed is so narrow and high,

you need a ladder to get onto it.

How could a child

be conceived in such discomfort?

“Massa” would rather sneak into

the slaves’ quarters and

drag a female slave

to the barn or bush

and “have his way with her.”

That is the story of many

of our great-great grandmothers

who brought “colored” babies

into the world. 

II

Caribbean “Bokrahs,” too, said

they were out hunting mongoose

or inspecting the fence of

their vast sugar-cane plantations.

There weren’t many

 trapped vermin to show

and the number of

“mulatto” babies spiraled.

The Bokrahs’ wives knew

their husbands weren’t out hunting

and took revenge on the “baby-mamas.”

How many times were those slave-women

on potty-duty? They counted chamber pots

in their sleep instead of sheep—if they slept at all.

Bokrahs loved to hunt

and their wives dared not

interfere with their favorite sport .

III

I am a descendant of

hunter and  hunted.

There are numerous shades

of brown named after us.

We betray each other,

deny our darker brethren their dignity,

define them by menial labor

they cannot refuse.

We constrain and imprison them

with draconian laws that give license

to hunt in all seasons.

But they are strong like the mahogany,

weaned on the steeling of backbones.

.

.

© Althea Romeo-Mark, 09.02.14

1.     “Massa” = Master.

2.     “bokrah, bokra= white land owner in the Colonial Caribbean.

Pebble Hill Plantation is located in Thomasville, Georgia.  It houses the Elisabeth Ireland Poe Gallery.

elisabeth ireland poe gallery

Nancy Ireland Stahl, PHP Board of Trustees member, and her husband William W. Stahl have long envisioned a gallery that would appropriately showcase the excellent Sporting Art collected by Elisabeth (Pansy) Ireland Poe. Nancy and Bill shared their inspiring vision with fellow board members and the Pebble Hill professional staff, and today the vision is a reality. The second floor of the Main House has been renovated into a world class art gallery and an appropriate showcase for one of the country’s finest Sporting Art collections.

http://www.pebblehill.com/Content/Default/2/195/0/history/amazing-history-of-php.html