Friday, March 16, 2007

Bought and Sold (from 'Too Black, Too Strong')

Smart big awards and prize money
Is killing off black poetry
It’s not censors or dictators that are cutting up our art.
The lure of meeting royalty
And touching high society
Is damping creativity and eating at our heart.

The ancestors would turn in graves
Those poor black folk that once were slaves would wonder
How our souls were sold
And check our strategies,
The empire strikes back and waves
Tamed warriors bow on parades
When they have done what they’ve been told
They get their OBE's.
~ benjamin zephaniah

What is OBE? out of body experience does not seem 2 fit well.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

OBE: tis 'Officer' class of 'the Order of the British Empire'

obe is also open back end. and that defn. fits :)

bob floyd said...

hehehe