April Fool Poem by Leonard Dabydeen

You do not dare fool me
with your eyes in the half-white clouds
with stars coquetting moon
I know the feeling of cold wind
whispering among naked trees
I, too, have seen the Komagata Maru
coming in the Vancouver harbour
white men walking and talking
where the harbour front has no turban
and British Columbia does not make pujas
but I learn never to be blind
and that if I speak their language
British will question their English
so I sit on the crooked planks on the wharf
patiently hum bhajans
soon to see Gurdeep Singh arriving
in time to make Maple Leaf our flag
oceans may be deep, but colourful
you do not dare fool me
not even on this April morn.