Upon Visiting the Ruins at Annaberg Sugar Plantation

(This plantation operated from 1779-1871 in St. John)

.

when the wind would die, the windmill stopped

and crushing the cane fell to the horses, shackled

to the wheel that turned the big stone grinders

.

here is the ruin of the horse corral atop this pretty hill

.

the horses sweated from dawn to dusk in the relentless

Carribean heat, obedient to the whip

brute creatures—property

strangers to freedom and care

.

what mattered was

.

sugar for dainty English tea

molasses to fatten America

rum for the European liquored rich

.

thousands of tons of sugar per year!

.

of course, besides the crushing,

first the land had to be slashed

burned

terraced

planted

the cane had to be grown

watered by buckets carried up the hills

cut

transported

cooked

and crystallized.

.

this work fell to others—

.and the world is ruined still

.

.