Poem by Dr. Ahmed Gumaa Siddiek
Liverpool,
You were the gate to hell
So, I hate you as I hate London,
Nantes and New York as well
Every piece of me does boil with hate
As through your dirty gates,
My black race were
put to face their horrible fate,
Faced their awful luck on your soil
And spent all their lives to toil
To make your wealth
And bring you the better health
Your hate, in every pore in my flesh
In the run of my blood,
It is always fresh
You slave trader,
You, the cruel traitor!!
My black race were driven
Into your dirty ports
Under the view of your very judges
And your royal courts
They were forced into slavery
Driven in your merciless,
Unfriendly, slippery roads
They were smuggled by day and night
Through your hideous tunnels and secret docks
Naked Children clinging
To naked mothers’ breasts
They had to walk all the way
And would never have to rest
Women and men all were chained
Hand to hand or cuffed foot to foot
Like cattle, they were hooked
By a burly piece of wood
Salty sweat ran into their eyes
And hundreds of grimy flies
Bite their skinny faces and broken thighs
They were all naked
And the feet were bare
And none a piece of cloth
There to wear
Then, they were auctioned
In your market place
Like animals not as a human race
And they were to be
Dispersed in every space
Forced to build your Great British Empire
And they did with great care
In the plain or in the mire
They did all the heavy jobs in the farms
Built bridges and built the dams
They cut the wood for the winter’s fire
And cooked the delicious food
For the master and his neighborhood
Sometimes, only one girl
In the master’s house,
Was the only black maid
Who was made to wake up the first
And the last to go to bed
All broken from foot to head
Oh, Liverpool
Your dirty history can never be gone
And because of the harm you have done,
To the black race,
You will be forgiven by none!!