Member-only story
Seduced by the handwritten text,
Here in words,
shining like diamonds and pearls
are voices seldom heard.
The multitude gathers but is blind to its existence.
Hence, there is no need to seek redemption, compensation, repatriation for those slain on the Atlantic slave trade.
I look at the book and ponder that it will take more than one individual to lift it off the aluminium trolley. I imagine the words written within to be heavy and dense, like most books of this era. It might be profound but exhausting to decipher and maybe beyond comprehension. I think to myself, how will I lift this heavy book unto this beautiful mahogany desk?
Upon closer inspection, the hardback cover I deduced was composed of leather, one finds is made from compacted cardboard. The surface flakes fragment slowly descend unto the trolley. A man approaches me, offering his assistance. He comments that “this is a big book,” asking, “what is it about? I hesitate before saying, “it is the slave directory from the island of St. Lucia.”
