A poem for our times: The British by... - Lung Conditions C...

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A poem for our times

20 Replies

The British by Benjamin Zephaniah

(serves 60 million)

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.

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20 Replies
Damon1864 profile image
Damon1864Volunteer

I love this poem and it's all true, thank you so much for sharing. A little bit of love, respect and justice goes a very long way. Have a lovely day and take care 😊 Bernadette xx xx 🌈

sassy59 profile image
sassy59

Really good thank you Hanne. Benjamin Zephaniah certainly has a great way with words. Thank you. Xxxx

One of the world's greatest poets Hanne, thanks for posting. 🎉❣

HungryHufflepuff profile image
HungryHufflepuff

I love Benjamin Zephaniah, such a great poet and philosopher.

RoadRunner44 profile image
RoadRunner44

This poem is a really interesting way of sending out a good, strong message, ..we are all human beings. I love the contents and found it very uplifting. I will be keeping it for future reference and pass it on to friends and family. Thanks Hanne62.

Not to mention respect for nature and wildlife of land, air and sea.

Disrespect and observe what we now witness and see !

Do we get what has happened, to our world, the air that we breathe

Care for nature and wildlife in abundance if man with respect will treat.

Health is created by observing the laws of the universe,

the natural law of things

Do and you will be done by

it was told right from the beginning.

How many I wonder understand fully the meaning

Each to his own but the law continues even if unseen.

BK

The recipe device is clever isn’t it?

I saw a programme a couple of years ago, where they analysed the DNA of a “white British and proud” member of EDL. He insisted he was “100% English” (whatever that means) but turned out to be a melting pot of ancestry from all over the globe. He was astonished & disbelieving, it obviously shook him to the core. Ignorance is to blame for a lot of bigotry. Eg the guy arrested for peeing next to Keith Palmer’s memorial said in court that he was in London to protect statues. But when asked, he couldn’t name a single statue! It’s tragic really.

Angelagone profile image
Angelagone in reply to

I wonder how many people are 100% English? Part of my ancestry is Dutch and Danish and theres a lot of Celt in there too. I've always been proud to be a bit of a mongrel !

in reply to Angelagone

If you go back far enough, I mean thousands of years, don’t we all hail from the Middle East? I presume so. But in terms of generations you sound like a true European 👍

in reply to Angelagone

This might interest you Angela sciencemag.org/news/2017/05...

Angelagone profile image
Angelagone in reply to

What a fascinating article. Many scientists, I believe have made the point that biologically race is a nonsense.

in reply to Angelagone

Yes, and usually science articles go over my head but I managed to follow that one!

O2Trees profile image
O2Trees in reply to Angelagone

That's right. It should be better known and taught in schools too.

in reply to

It may surprise you to know, that everyone has neanderthal in their DNA, no one but no one is pure anything and is very likely we all came out of Africa. Now that is going almost as far back to newt :) What silly people are the human race.

hypercat54 profile image
hypercat54

Love it. 😁🧡 xx

cofdrop-UK profile image
cofdrop-UK

Beautiful. Thank you.

Cx

peege profile image
peege

Thanks H. Perfect 🤗

O2Trees profile image
O2Trees

Excellent - I didnt know this one, so many thanks Hanne62 :)

in reply to O2Trees

It’s quite old - maybe 20yrs? But seems very relevant just now

leo60 profile image
leo60

Amen xx

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