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Margaret Garner, a mother and fugitive slave who wouldn't let her children be returned back into slavery.

Mothering Slave

She is a mother pale with fear,

Her boy clings to her side,

And in her kyrtle vainly tries

His trembling form to hide.

He is not hers, although she bore

For him a mother’s pains;

He is not hers, although her blood

Is coursing through his veins!

He is not hers, for cruel hands

May rudely tear apart

The only wreath of household love

That binds her breaking heart. 

Poem excerpt from “The Slave Mother” By Frances Ellen Watkins Harper