Commons Image
Conquer
I have mourned a people that I have never met
wept for land I have never stepped foot on
grieved for children I have never carried.
I have watched history repeat itself again and again
kept newspaper clippings so that the past is not erased
I have marched for the oppressed
only to be betrayed by the rich
I believe that violence is necessary as a form of resistance
when violence is used as a means of oppression.
They do not believe food is a basic human right.
Famine is their weapon in genocide.
Dropping bombs on hospitals, schools and tents.
Blowing the innocent limb from limb
then harvesting organs to give to their own.
They poison the water
and kill their livestock,
setting fires on land that does not belong to them.
The innocent have been betrayed
and still, they hold on to their faith.
So, tell me,
How do you conquer a nation that have been promised paradise by their lord?
Commons Image
Immigrants
For you, I will always be an immigrant
maybe sometimes a paki depending on your mood
perhaps I’ve taken a job you’re not qualified to do
or maybe your daughter ran away to marry one of us
and that’s why you’re mad
because your grandchildren will be mixed-race
you say your bloodline is dying
you cannot understand the language we speak
or eat the food we make
your palate is just not cultured enough
your doctor is a paki, your dentist an arab
the corner shop owner brown with a beard
kids call him boss man you call him a curry muncher
your favourite takeaway is a chicken tikka masala
sometimes a Turkish kebab
on Sundays, you eat fish and chips in the pub
telling everyone that immigrants are taking over
yet here we are doing the jobs that are beneath you
paying our taxes, boosting your economy and contributing to your healthcare
and yet, we’ll never be British enough
our flavour is too spicy and our names are too ethnic
so you book a cheap holiday to Turkey or Morocco
where the food, the views and the women
suddenly don’t matter.
