Jumbee

In Port-au-Prince, the tall ships take on spice
Brown-skinned girls and the sailors they entice
Sleep sweetly, Baron Samedi
There’s Jumbee working in the fields
Mmmmmmm
I saw them once, burnt black, hacking a cane
Feet dragging dust, ankles swollen by chains
Sleep sweetly, Baron Samedi
There’s Jumbee working in the fields
The overseer, he snakes his whip to the knife
And they stumble on, goaded by its bite
Sleep sweetly, Baron Samedi
There’s Jumbee working in the fields
Inland, where the sweet magnolias bloom
Shuttered moonlight bathes the white man’s room
Sleep sweetly, Baron Samedi
There’s Jumbee working in the fields