Written in Response To Visiting the Ridgely Plantation

I know I can’t grasp the fullness of what happened here. Even as I live and breathe on stolen land, I will never understand the depth of what was done. Never could. Never will. 

I cannot change history and I cannot dismiss it. All I can do is be proud that I stroll on the same land where slaves used to suffer, and own the same land they used to tend. 

 

Geri

MD

17 years old

More by Geri

  • What Will It Take?

    At parties I sit quiet and calculate my words

    I avoid the eyes of guys and stare at my phone. 

    After all that hiding, 

    dissatisfaction feels like heartburn, 

  • Inevitable

    crying over a simple email 

    the lasts build a lump in my throat 

    last time beaming onstage 

    signing yearbooks 

    wearing a stiff blue skirt 

  • Battle Cries

    One girl’s lanky frame against the dark turf field,

    lit up by fluorescent lights 

    She saunters toward the building 

    holding another girl’s hand