The British (serves 60 million) 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.

Where the mind is without fear –  Rabindranath Tagore

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high

Where knowledge is free

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments

By narrow domestic walls

Where words come out from the depth of truth

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way

Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit

Where the mind is led forward by thee

Into ever-widening thought and action

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

Heritage Day by Jackie Minks

Speak to the lands,

they are awaiting your call,

your recognition of respect

for your ancient land.

Reward those with your thoughts:

those who had planted the seed,

nurtured the harvest of your being;

celebrate your heritage.

Call together your children,

and their children, on this day.

Share with them the lands of their pasts;

feast with them on the knowledge

of preservation!

Accent – Rupi Kaur

“my voice

is the offspring

of two countries colliding

what is there to be ashamed of

if english

and my mother tongue

made love

my voice

is her father’s words

and mother’s accent

what does it matter if

my mouth carries two worlds

– accent”

Africa my Africa – Abisoye Sejoro

Africa my Africa

Africa my mother land

land of milk and honey

land of natural beauty

Africa land where i live

Africa my Africa

A land of great rulers

Africa my Africa

land of nature

A land were nature lives

Africa my Africa

A land blessed by God himself

On the day of creation

God threw diamond like stone

gold like rain

He dropped crude oil like rain

Africa my Africa

land of milk and honey