THE BRITISH By: Benjamin Zephaniah

Take some Picts, Celts and Silures
And let them settle,
Then overrun them with Roman conquerors.

Remove the Romans after approximately 400 years
Add lots of Norman French to some
Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Vikings, then stir vigorously.

Mix some hot Chileans, cool Jamaicans, Dominicans,
Trinidadians and Bajans with some Ethiopians, Chinese,
Vietnamese and Sudanese.

Then take a blend of Somalians, Sri Lankans, Nigerians
And Pakistanis,
Combine with some Guyanese
And turn up the heat.

Sprinkle some fresh Indians, Malaysians, Bosnians,
Iraqis and Bangladeshis together with some
Afghans, Spanish, Turkish, Kurdish, Japanese
And Palestinians
Then add to the melting pot.

Leave the ingredients to simmer.

As they mix and blend allow their languages to flourish
Binding them together with English.

Allow time to be cool.

Add some unity, understanding, and respect for the future,
Serve with justice
And enjoy.

Note: All the ingredients are equally important. Treating one ingredient better than another will leave a bitter unpleasant taste.

Warning: An unequal spread of justice will damage the people and cause pain. Give justice and equality to all.

Artwork by; Julio Le-parc
Tittled; La Longue Marche

Comments

Painful letters By: Marvee

Every time I feel this way This terrifying kind of pain These twitchy palms and muffled sobs These weakened sights and mindless slob I would think of something To put me at ease, anything At times, to leave my world And be someone else, not a dud Often times I would write on plain sheet Write till my limbs felt weak Write till the page is covered in ink Write till the painful times shift. ©-Marvee

The So Called Queen By:Salawu Olubunmi

_The so called queen of the zanger A woman of misery and deceptive appearance Wags tongue in a swordlike How angelic she be when seeking the honey frm it's comb With her romantic but deceitful display The first sight of her left me in dismay First encounter with her was heartrending Such a sweet poison A devil in disguise wit an angelic face The so called queen can neither be embraced nor avoided.

THE GCE GIRL By: OLUSEGUN AKINSANYA

Every year we welcome into our community several teenagers between 13 and 17 from far and near. They are both male and female. They have the same mission. They have come to write General Certificate Examination (G.C.E). Most of them are penultimate students in secondary schools. These little fellows have been fixed at centres nearby to write their exams and the people that brought them have accommodation as part of the payment agreement. Some of these children are leaving home for the first time. Some of them look like mom's pets. Immediately they hit the town, you see a lot of ambiance and noise, something like a carnival. They make noise in the morning while looking for water for domestic use and in the evening when they are back from their different centres. It's always a new experience for most of them, and they seem to enjoy it: yea, they seem to enjoy being away from home for a whole month, a kind of escape from the eagle eyes of their parents; they seem to enjoy a t...

OLUWAJIMI . J . THORPE

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