Book VII is a distinctive and compelling free verse monologue about the horrors and devastating effects of slavery on the victims as well as the perpetrators of that wicked and debilitating institution. It is about the mental and psychological hardships experienced by each slave. The voice tells the story of their journey from West Africa across the Middle Passage to their respective ports. The reader hears a sad and compelling tale about a young woman who has been raped by her master and then beaten.Willem, the anonymous voice, appears, and the poet alludes to the idea that he, Willem, serves as one of the architects of slavery. He is the voice that appears everywhere and nowhere. This section is, most importantly, about the devastating lives and shattered dreams of the victims during and after emancipation.
The voice is compassionate as well as healing and the language concise and transparent.