excavation

a found poem

Under the boughs of a tulip poplar
Buried among clumps of roots
Piles of oyster shells
Is the brick foundation
A remnant

It was home to Frederick Douglass
American Statesman, Diplomat, Orator, Author

Here
At the age of seven or eight
Shoeless, pant-less, precocious

[He] saw whippings and petty cruelties

Here
He realized
He was a slave


Found in «A Community's Roots: With Frederick Douglass's help, the past and present come together on a Maryland plantation» by Samir S. Patel in the November/December 2006 issue of Archaeology.

The article details the excavation of Wye House Farm, where Douglass spent an early chapter in his life, and the impact of that excavation on the surrounding Maryland community.