Running through the woods in the middle of the night;
with my children at my side filled with anger and fright.
I can hear him shouting out our names
I know if we get caught again I will go insane.
The dogs are barking and closing in trying to sniff out our tracks.
I know this time , "I can't get caught I will die before I ever go back."
I've been beaten for some time forced to do as I was told.
I never thought I could ever escape; I never dreamed I could be so bold
My clothes are dirty, my body is too and the children want to eat.
These woods are hot and very muggy; one could pass out from the
heat.
The children cry out because they’re so tired from trying to run so fast.
I explain to them once again, "We can never return to our past."
My feet hurt badly and my ankles swell from the terrible holes in my
shoes..
.. Oh by the way, "I'm not a runaway slave, I'm a woman whose been
abused.



Email  Mary Alice Barnes Aggie