Helen Wilson
Spring in a Music Box
Harriet Tubman, born in 1820 Maryland, the personal property of a white master. One of almost four million American slaves, Harriet has no constitutional rights. She is pressed into labour at an early age, can own nothing, can do nothing without permission and is denied an education.
outside the school yard
she towers over those who are
bent on oppression –
standing tall on shoulders
bent to the wheel
Harriet sees children ripped from their mother’s arms, men beaten, and women raped. She bears a large scar on her own head. Married to a free man with whom she cannot live, Harriet tends a white man’s field, harvesting seeds of resistance and biding her time.
arms pinned
a music box closed –
the spring
tightens
with each turn of the key
When her master decides to sell her, Harriet leaps forward to meet her fate. Life or death – it doesn’t matter. What is not acceptable is further subjugation. She will fight for freedom, for basic human rights.
on the horns of a devil
she jumps
trusting river rapids
to carry her body
to freedom
On reaching safety, she travels back to the South thirteen times, guiding another seventy slaves to freedom. They call her Moses. When civil war breaks out, she continues her forays into enemy territory as a scout, a nurse, a laundress – whatever is required.
The ground swells and abolition triumphs only when people of the North draw a distinction between black skin and blackened hearts.
Harriet is barely remunerated for her contributions to the revolution. After the war, she becomes a baker to make ends meet. She cares for orphans, establishes a home for the elderly, and campaigns for women’s voting rights. In 1869, she remarries and adopts a daughter.
leading not for glory
nor for duty . . .
knowing in her bones
why
we live and love
Harriet is finally granted a pension at the age of 75 after powerful friends shepherd a private bill through Congress.
Eighteen years later, she dies a free woman.
About the Author
Helen Wilson is an Australian poet based in the Blue Mountains. She is a professional communicator who has written for magazines, and art shows, and pure love of the lyrical. Having recently ceased full-time work, she now has more time to indulge her passions for art, nature, and social justice. She is a member of Writing NSW and is currently undertaking further study in poetry.