Love Poem: The Dutch Is My Father
George Zamalea Avatar
Written by: George Zamalea

The Dutch Is My Father

When still a child
I learned that plantation colony was belonging 
to my father, the one who brought my mother 
from the Dutch East Indies,
and the one whom he loved full in rage.

I was a small Negro, beautiful, fat, and disabled,
helping her as far as the porch
along its edge where I now walk
what silence reigns among them!
 
I remember when slavery in Suriname was abolished
by the Netherlands in 1863, but my mother
was not fully released her love toward my father
until I grew as a star,
and  I remember, back there, in Paramaribo,

along the its outskirt where I now walk
what silence reigns among them!

Still I remember.