A High Price

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN LANDRUM, 1847

 

Eight hundred dollars

is a high price to pay

for a one-legged slave,

but my pottery works

can use his hands.

He’s the very best potter,

white or black,

in all of Edgefield County.

My brother-in-law,

Lewis Miles,

glared at me

across the auction field.

I know he wanted Dave.

Then Lewis bought that cripple,

Henry Simkins,

as if he’s the only one

who can turn the potter’s wheel

for Dave.

I have a boy,

only twelve,

who can surely do that job.