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Sharna’s Great Great Grandmother
Christina LeVant was born enslaved in 1842 on a plantation in Marion S.C. Her father Frank LeVant and his wife were bought over on a slave ship from the east coast of Africa. Christina, known as Tina, worked as a lady’s maid to her slave owner Mrs. W.J. Baker. When Tina’s mother was on her deathbed, she begged her owner Mrs. Baker, not to sell her children. Mrs. Baker granted her request and later in her will, left Tina and her older sister to her brother.
Mrs. Baker died the summer before the Civil War broke out and Tina, then 17 was put in the fields by her new owner, to work as a water girl. She would fill a heavy wooden pail with water, carry it on her head and walk a mile around the plantation many times a day to carry water to the slaves working in the fields. In addition to carrying water, Tina also watched for the overseer and warned the slaves so that he wouldn’t catch them praying. She continued this work until the age of 20 when the war was over.
When the Emancipation Proclamation was in effect, many of the freed slaves stayed on the plantation under contract with the owners who agreed to give them part of the crops raised. Tina stayed for some time. During her stay, a Negro Clergyman named “Smith” went to Marion to organize a church. He distributed Bibles. Tina kept hers close to her heart and read it faithfully. She was one of the lucky slave children who was taught to read and write by her owners. One of the plantation owners gave them an acre of land to build a church. The site of the church was called African Methodist Hill.
As time went on a lay preacher, named John Platt was in charge of the African Methodist Zion church in Marion, S.C. Tina later married the son of John Platt Sr in 1868, and together they were able to save enough to buy a small plot of land for a house and garden. They raised vegetables, chickens and a few pigs. Tina spun cotton cloth to clothe her children. She also made her own bread and soap. In 1905 John Jr and Tina moved to Waterbury CT where they helped organize the Pearl St. Church. Tina and John had 11 children (Elliot, George, John, Arthur, Mary, Fannie, Daisy, Florence, Ruth, and 2 died at birth). Tina and John worked hard to give their children an education.
Three of the girls attended Livingston College and one of them became a Domestic Science teacher. Arthur graduated from Boston university Law School and practiced in Spartanburg S.C. George became one of the best trap drummers in the theater and worked with bands in Hollywood. John also graduated from Livingston College and was an ordained minister in 1915. He became a supply Minister for the New England District of the AME Zion Church.
Tina later moved to Medfield MA where she lived with her daughters Fannie and Ruth. Together they had a large garden 150 chickens and 4 pigs. In addition to her 11 children, Tina had 26 grandchildren and over 22 great grandchildren. John died in 1930 at the age of 83 but Tina lived until 1943 dying at the age of 101.
Gospel of the Redwood
Gospel of the Redwood – A Song
When the poet asked the redwoods
About their long past lives
They laughed so hard their seed cones
Came afallin’ from the skie
We never die, said the mothers,
To the representatives of youth
Our roots they keep on propagating
New generations of same old me
And when we fall tall over
We’re still standing don’t you see.
Chorus:
We told this to the Yurok
And they quickly understood
No beginnings and no endings
Ever conscious, ever wood.
And what I asked of happiness
Are you only old and wide
Or is there something more to know
Of what goes on inside
And again the mighty redwoods laughed
From their roots up to their roof
You humans are such dizzy folk
We’re not quite sure you’d know the truth
Our branches are in love with light
We’re earthly bound and heaven sent
Surrounded by our friends and kin
We see and feel without lament
Poetry
- 99 Gratitudes in 3 Minutes – A Yoga Chanting Poem
- A Poem is Born
- After The News
- Alan
- Alan Is Dead
- American Wedding, 2011
- Ask the Sphinx – 2 approaches
- Baggage Claim
- Beach Plum Jam
- Beau Dies
- between spiders
- Burnt Wood – for Bubi
- Call it what it is
- Conversation With A Ladle
- Coyote in the House
- Crow’s Song
- Day break
- Death Factories
- Death of the Dolphin
- Furry Bug
- Gospel of the Redwood
- Insects in Amber
- It: In Honor of Dr. Seuss
- Journey to Standing Rock
- Kevin Garnett in Africa
- Life among the barbarians
- Long ago, perhaps yesterday
- Mandalay Hills
- Mesquite Dunes
- Miles’ Ashes
- Miles’ Journey
- My First Yoga Teacher
- One Drop of Rain
- Salton Sea
- Self Love
- Sunrise
- The Love Life of Clams
- Throwing Away
- Uncle Sol
- What The Stones Say
- when spring arrives ice flows out of the bay
- Whispering Among The Gods
- Willow
- Winter Fog
- Work and Love are What Really Matter: a reunion poem for the BHS class of 1958 reunion
Behold this view of “The Four Noble Truths” – Jake Agnew
Life is suffering:
The first of the teachings explains
a world of hurt, beleaguered with pain.
It says that life is suffering
and full of strife and struggling.
From birth until death, in human form –
we can certainly expect to be consumed by the forlorn.
Within this incarnation which we reside
there will be sin and tarnation held inside.
Suffering has a reason:
The second of these meaningful teachings
expresses why there is pain and its reasons.
From the days before, until tomorrow and after
this dismay is important, with its sorrowful disaster.
The tragedy which we must endure and feel
with sadness and grief are from something sure and real.
The chaos of life has cause and effect,
where dismay, loss and strife have obvious connections.
The reason for suffering is attachement:
The third of these truths states the following:
the absurdity and abuse are related to wallowing
in desire, needs and attachments of want,
with a fire that feeds, combats our senses and taunts.
The vexing hate and confusion we sustain
are connected, related to the delusions entertained.
When we long for an outcome to be consistently granted,
we feel wronged with doubt – succumbing to differences from what was demanded.
Disconnecting from attachment brings the cessation of suffering:
The fourth jewel of wisdom that is taught and shared
is an important tool of precision in thought and cares.
Liberation from suffering can be truthfully attained,
with a situation of less struggling, and fewer pains.
By practicing detachment and ceasing desire –
with these tactics we can combat the grief, and fire.
Enlightenment is within our reach and potential
when using this insight intense, of these teachings so influential.
Written by Jake Onami Agnew, 2009
Poems by Others
Within this section of my website – I showcase pieces of poetry that are written by others, which I find to be particularly worthy of further reflection and sharing.
A Brief History of the Attempted Genocide
Although the European invaders attempted a complete indigenous genocide they failed, and although many indigenous cultures, traditions, languages, and much wisdom has been lost, the fact is there are currently 574 federally “Recognized” tribes in the US as of 2024 as well as over 400 “unrecognized” tribes including the Herring Pond Tribe of southeastern MA. There are also approximately six million Indigenous tribal citizens now alive in the US. How odd that the best concise summary of the American Genocide of the Indigenous Peoples is to be found at The Ministry of Foreign Affairs website of the People’s Republic of China.
How It Is In Nablus
Bounded by Mount Ebal
Said to represent the curse of disobedience
And Mount Gezirim, said to represent the blessings of obedience
Some anxious chickens have preceded the dawn with crowing
After the semi automatic guns and rockets are fired
The bells rung on the half hour
And the unemployment rate rises
Like the morning sun
To sixty percent.
The city is surrounded, locked down
Only pedestrians can cross the checkpoints
In long lines
Through narrow turnstiles
Like cattle chutes
At Hawara
Sixteen miles inside the Israeli border.
But the knafeh is sweet
And at 4 A.M. the muezzins make first call
Waking the dogs
Stirring the city
Reminding the fighters to hide their gun
The Israeli soldiers to withdraw
The staff at the Medical Relief Committee
To resume their duties
At Radifia Hospital
Where the lights come on
Where soap and furniture producers, quarrymen, and stock trader
Stretch their limbs
Where forty thousand people living in refugee camps like Balata
Hide their despair
Nurse their babies and their wounds
Searching for meaning, fresh water, a piece of bread
And the visiting peace worker
Turns on the internet
Game seven in Boston
Sox versus Indians
Cavalry versus natives
Israelis versus Palestinians
Brother and sister versus brother and sister
How it is in Nablus
Sox up three to two
Top of the sixth
© B.R. Taub 10/07
Ask the Sphinx – 2 approaches
There are many reasons
To travel to Egypt,
One of which is to inquire of the Sphinx,
”What should a man do?”
The instructions you are given specify only that you inquire
And make note of what you next perceive.
How you inquire is up to you.
1.
Approaching from the south
On your magnificent white steed
The sphinx faces east
To greet the sun, to thank the Nile
As it has every day
For over 5000 years
Over a million sunrises.
A lucky man may see one
A persistent man many
The same sun for 100 generations
Rises up and exposes the sphinx.
The steed and the man approach as close as possible
Close enough to see her damaged nose
Her whiskers twitching in the wind from the south
She can smell you before she sees you,
The man with the question.
It is noisy, you can hear the adjacent city
Horns, sirens, the sounds of other horses, camels, asses, humans, flies
You sit your mount hoping for the moment.
The constant Sahara stops whistling and biting your face
Then as if bidden, for no apparent reason,
The wind subsides, and the city stands still.
So you reach out to her, for the iron is hot
And say out loud, loud enough for a deaf sphinx to hear,
”What should a man do, Sphinx?”
And then you listen.
The high shriek of a hunting bird comes first
Then the song of many birds
Had they always been singing and you just
Didn’t hear them?
Or had their song just arisen?
You may count twenty thousand new suns
And still you will not know
Although it is now a little clearer what a man should do.
2.
Approaching from the north
On foot, as close as you can
Close enough to see her damaged nose
The sound of a muezzin calling
Signals the time to stop and be still.
A chorus of male voices joins in the chanting
Then another caller calls
And more chanters respond
All vowels emerging from the swollen gut of the soiled city
Saccharine, sacred
It is all too real
You must sit down in wonder
Awaiting quiet
Aware of the ancient cemetery
The clatter of camel hooves
The voices of your kin
When all of a sudden, and for no apparent reason,
But as you knew it must,
The hoof beats cease
The chanting ceases
The wagon wheels stop turning, stop grinding
The wind subsides,
And the city is still.
So you say out loud, loud enough so the sphinx may hear,
”What should a man do, Sphinx?”
And the voice of a young boy in a silenced carriage
Says,”Baba. Baba.”
Did you hear that, Baba?
You may count your twenty thousand new suns
And still you cannot know
Although it is now a little clearer
what a man should do.
POETRY
- 99 Gratitudes in 3 Minutes – A Yoga Chanting Poem
- A Poem is Born
- After The News
- Alan
- Alan Is Dead
- American Wedding, 2011
- Ask the Sphinx – 2 approaches
- Baggage Claim
- Beach Plum Jam
- Beau Dies
- between spiders
- Burnt Wood – for Bubi
- Call it what it is
- Conversation With A Ladle
- Coyote in the House
- Crow’s Song
- Day break
- Death Factories
- Death of the Dolphin
- Furry Bug
- Gospel of the Redwood
- Insects in Amber
- It: In Honor of Dr. Seuss
- Journey to Standing Rock
- Kevin Garnett in Africa
- Life among the barbarians
- Long ago, perhaps yesterday
- Mandalay Hills
- Mesquite Dunes
- Miles’ Ashes
- Miles’ Journey
- My First Yoga Teacher
- One Drop of Rain
- Salton Sea
- Self Love
- Sunrise
- The Love Life of Clams
- Throwing Away
- Uncle Sol
- What The Stones Say
- when spring arrives ice flows out of the bay
- Whispering Among The Gods
- Willow
- Winter Fog
- Work and Love are What Really Matter: a reunion poem for the BHS class of 1958 reunion