A Juneteenth Poem (excerpt)

When Juneteenth was made a national holiday, my hands started writing what it must have felt like to be freed. What happens when you've only known poverty, back-breaking work, and servitude? As I write this, I’ve just read the poem for the first time in almost a year, and I started bawling like a baby. I’m not exactly sure what set me off, but it felt like a deep well of pain passing through me. If only I could explain, but I cannot put it into words yet.

Today, for Juneteenth, I would like to post a short excerpt from my, as yet, unpublished
‘What Good is Freedom When You’ve Got No Place To Go”
by Robert Rw Anton


What good is Freedom
When you've got no place to go
No one to call on
No wealth to show

No place to live
No money to spend
Nowhere to run
No next of kin

No prospects or future
No history no past
Nothing you remember
Forgot under the lash

We's free we's free
What does that mean
How to digest it
Like good rice and beans

We's free we's free
Say it once more

What good is Freedom
When you've got
No place
To go


- Robert Rw Anton

(This is a multivoice poem I'm currently seeking to have published)