Scream: A Brief History Of Oppression Chapter 05 Poem by Martin Lochner

*5*

increasing feelings of insecurity
english law prevails and traitors
die in front of firing squads
and hang on the weight of their corded necks

elevated gentry smile in bronze
shakespeare invading every street and boulevard
children receive the victorian rod for
failing english reading and grammar
the civil threats of “if i ever hear
you speak afrikaans you will be expelled”

english aristocrats reach our shores
build mansions and elegant homesteads
along the scenic south ridges looking down on
the misery of the peoples feeling the sting
of taxed oppression and social crimes.

leaving the cape colony to claim independence
we open a diamond encrusted hole
mining and working our wealth
a sense of pride returns

news from the witwatersrand tells that we have found
a vein under the ground that
spurts golden blood and that
we could finance a government for free men.

trooper ships landing after hearing of inland fortunes
the reds marched,
echoing gongs
and drumming like captured monkeys.

my scottish brother did you forget the freedom cry of sir william wallace
my irish compatriot did you forget the yearning sighs of saint patrick

generals chatting up a storm
with old roman sophism
over tea with honey
become offended and declare war
using their wealth in their favour

as far as her majesties sun rises
polished button troops escape
that horrid island taking in the sun
and learning their safari trip entails
more than seeing the big five of Africa

friedrich engels notes the successes
of the industrial revolution
the power loom and spinning jenny
ransacking and mangling the bodies of
cheap laboured work house minors and woman

working them 16 hours a day in low,
damp ceilinged factories
a lack of running water and sewerage,
misery increases
manchester becomes a place of cripples and amputees

an empire clothes it’s young ones
in helmet and uniform promising them three
square meals and a few pounds to send home to
welfare families starving in english towns