This small dusty book contains a poem
Written by a slave owner and is an account
Of the execution by hanging of one of his slaves
Who was accused of brutally raping
A white woman in her own house
It was written just over two hundred years ago
And is a fine and moving poem
Even though it was considered too visceral
To be published at the time
It has been locked in this metal box
For most of its wretched life
And I have no plans to release it
As the best poems are never published