Always a Gift

Frederick Douglass’s mother was a slave
Frederick Douglass’s father was a slave master
Frederick Douglass was a bastard
A result of rape
The embodiment of pain, shame, the
Offspring of injustice
A life that should have never existed
But I think it’s safe to say we are so
Glad he did

Frederick Douglass, was an orphan
Frederick Douglass’s mother died when
He was a child
Frederick Douglass was a
Bastard-orphan-slave child
Frederick Douglass had a life that some might
Say he’d be better without
Frederick Douglass was a criminal
A law breaker, a runaway slave self
Educated orator, author
International abolitionist, advisor to
The president
Appointed U.S. Marshal
And champion of women’s rights

Frederick Douglass was the only Black
To attend
America’s first Women’s Rights Convention
1848 Seneca Falls, I quote

"In this denial
Of the right to participate in government, not merely the degradation of woman
And the perpetuation of a great injustice happens, but the maiming and
Repudiation of one-half of the moral and intellectual power of the government of the world

Frederick Douglass loves you, baby
Girl, young lady, sweet woman
You’ve dreamed of being a mother, but
Never thought it’d happen this way
In a flood of passion you found
Yourself clinging to a stranger
And neither of you realized what he
Left behind when the tide carried him off to sea
You know exactly the type of things
People won’t say to your face and you feel like drowning in shame

Or maybe you’re not one to get swept
Away
You didn’t need a ring, you had mutual
Trust
You didn’t need protection from what
You thought was love
Not expecting the man who seemed
So committed to abandon the seed he worked so hard to plant. He insists you
Exercise your right to choose, and by that, he means do what he wants you to
In this twisted soap opera you’re faced with the choice to lose your lover or
Lose his child, and right about now you feel like losing both

Or maybe you’ve lost even more. Maybe
This life was forced inside you and some people still throw stones. They
Call you murderer, for even considering, foolishly equating a homicidal maniac
With a victim of rape who might not want to raise the child of their oppressor
I apologize for the ignorance. These predicaments are complex

Your situation is less than ideal but
My
My sister, consider this

Frederick Douglass’s mother was a
Slave
Frederick Douglass’s father was a slave
Master
Frederick Douglass was a bastard
A result of rape
The embodiment of pain, shame, the
Offspring of injustice
A life that should have never existed
But I think it’s safe to say we are so
Glad he did

Believe this
Nothing will be fixed by getting rid of
The only
Joy in this brokenness
The life inside of you is not yours to
Live
Or take, or give
But one to receive
I pray you understand my friend
Life, is always, a gift