The Exodus

As the Record burned the colored women
fled their homes with their children in tow
to the outskirts of town. There the few men
who'd escaped the patrollers joined them
and made their way toward the marsh.
They rested in the cemeteries, with their backs against
tombstones, or lying stretched along the graves.
The mild November day grew chilly, and at dusk
the cold mist from the river rolled in. The roads
were filled with the refugees carrying their bedding
and a few personal belongings, and the children
whimpered as they quick-marched with their mothers
into the darkness of the night, into the bog.
Crouching waist-deep in the icy waters
pregnant women gave birth to their babies
who then died from exposure. It began to rain
and they continued deeper into the swamp.