History Poems
We Refugees
by Benjamin Zephaniah
I come from a musical place
Where they shoot me for my song
And my brother has been tortured
By my brother in my land.
I come from a beautiful place
Where they hate my shade of skin
They don't like the way I pray
And they ban free poetry.
......
Creed
by Steve Turner
We believe in Marxfreudanddarwin.
We believe everything is OK
as long as you don't hurt anyone,
to the best of your definition of hurt,
and to the best of your knowledge.
We believe in sex before during
and after marriage.
We believe in the therapy of sin.
We believe that adultery is fun.
......
The City In Which I Loved You
by Li-Young Lee
And when, in the city in which I love you,
even my most excellent song goes unanswered,
andI mount the scabbed streets,
the long shouts of avenues,
and tunnel sunken night in search of you...
That I negotiate fog, bituminous
rain rining like teeth into the beggar's tin,
or two men jackaling a third in some alley
weirdly lit by a couch on fire, that I
......
The River's Tale
by Rudyard Kipling
Prehistoric
Twenty bridges from Tower to Kew--
(Twenty bridges or twenty-two)--
Wanted to know what the River knew,
For they were young, and the Thames was old
And this is the tale that River told:--
"I walk my beat before London Town,
Five hours up and seven down.
Up I go till I end my run
......
Still I Rise
by Maya Angelou
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
......
I KNOW MY PEOPLE
by Eric Washington
I know my people.
I've seen their suffering and their tears,
Their anger and their fears.
I've seen them work amongst the mills,
In cotton and sugar fields.
Working with bleeding hands,
And refusing to give up then.
While tortured with whips and ropes,
And they still believe in hope.
I know my people.
......
De Munsterkerk van Roermond
by Mario Odekerken
Een ode aan eeuwen van stilte en steen.
Tussen de stenen van het oude plein,
waar Maaswind fluistert langs gevel en schijn,
rijst trots een silhouet in Romaans gewaad-
de Munsterkerk, in stilte bewaard.
Geboren uit keizerlijk visioen,
in tijden van geloof en piëteit,
waar abdissen baden onder 't licht
......
Kasteel van Oys
by Mario Odekerken
Tussen boomgaarden en weiden
staat een huis dat meer is dan steen,
een stille wachter in het landschap
waar tijd zich langzaam ophoopt.
Zijn muren kennen de hand van adel,
de adem van pachters,
het kraken van wagens over grind,
de geur van hooi en jacht.
......
Mosa et Trajectum
by Mario Odekerken
Langs de oevers van een oude stroom
ligt de stad als een herinnering,
gebouwd op bruggen,op stilte tussen stenen.
De Maas draagt verhalen die niemand vraagt
maar iedereen voelt
Romeinse voetstappen rusten onder pleinen,
tussen basilieken en markten
ademt de aarde geschiedenis.
Een oversteek werd een thuis,
......
Now That
by Ghairo Daniels
NOW THAT
Now that the struggle exists
in commemoration meetings in museums
Now that soldiers can play with their dogs
Now that our heroes sing hymns in heavens
Now my love is even !
As the aspiring write story or song
or mothers play ping-pong too long
......
