The White Man’s Real Burden Poem by Kavin Fang

The first step towards lightening—
Is to teach the virtues of cleanliness.
There is an ideal toilet soap called Pear’s Soap,
Which is potent to brighten the dark corners of the earth.
That’s what so called the white man’s burden.

For hundreds of years, the white men took up it,
Pursuing the civilizing mission to wipe the darkness of the dark,
And to clean the dirty of all the nonwhites.
The savage wars of peace, as honorable as civilization advances,
What a history of the empire burden!

History is a part of today, to certain countries,
The sun still never sets.
Britain has the mission to civilize Falkland Islands
Which are 13,000 km away; America to Iraq
And Afghanistan; France is also for the confetti of empire.

Around the world, there are dozens of territories and possessions,
Whatever the benefits, the responsibilities and costs, however, are greater.
The strategic values are dubious— national resources drain.
They jump in a trap dug by them,
But there’s no way to get out— that’s the real burden.