LONDON CALYPSO

by

(For Dorothy and Richard Perkyns)

We came here from Jamaica,

And from Barbados, too;

From Trinidad and Tobago;

Even Cariacou!

And many other Islands, too numerous to name;

But folks, I think you ought to know

They are not all the same,

Though we are all the same.

I slave upon the factory floor,

Or navigate the buses;

I cultivate nice girls no more,

But celebrate with hussies.

I know I can do better,

For I'm educated, quite!

"So sorry....", says each letter;

You see, my skin's not white.

O to be white and airy

Like new fallen Winter snow!

I'd sing this ditty merry:

"It's so right to be white, oh! oh!"

Such ecstasy would burn my blood!

My joy would sing like pain!

I'd roll, hog-happy, in the mud,

Till I was black again!

NEXT?
Why don't you look at Desolate Islands
by: Joyce Hemsley
from: Sunderland, England, UK

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