Banged Up

There once was a man from Kashmir,
Who was Muslim and lived over here,
When he went to the mosque,
Some youths shouted, "Get lost!"
And hurled a bottle of beer.

This rather depressed the Kashmiri,
As he set off home, munching a sarnie
(Halal, of course,
With a sheep as its source)
And he thought about the British army

The government, army and police,
Who, oiled by New Labour's grease,
Had cracked down on Islam,
Just like in Vietnam,
When the Americans cracked down on commies.

After watching a bit of TV,
To bed went our friend the Kashmiri,
But his sleep was cut short,
By a knock at the door,
Very early, at just after three.

The officer said, "Sir, we suspect you,
Even though we have never met you.
Of what we suspect you,
We don't have to tell you,
And on this suspicion I arrest you."

They bundled him into a car,
The police station wasn't that far,
They then bundled him out,
And, with a shout,
Locked the poor man behind bars

As our friend the Kashmiri sat down,
In his long flowing white Muslim gown,
He pondered and pondered,
And wondered and wondered,
Was all this because of his skin colour: brown?

Racism in Britain, surely not?
Racism in the police force, maybe not?
But if they weren't racist,
Then on what basis
Did they arrest our poor friend on the spot?

They held him for twenty-eight days,
They explored a variety of ways
To keep him locked up,
But then they gave up,
And let him go free in a daze

Let not the authorities strangle
Our right to dispute and to wrangle
Or even to hold
Our beliefs loud and bold,
Let it over the monster's mouth dangle

Adham Smart

Read more:
Foyle Young Poets of the Year

Comments

[Yahya]

Excellent poem mashallah - wouldn't it be nice if we could instead write about how fine and just our treatment is? But to be fair, even when we do get said treatment, there are still those among us who can't resist a good, hearty course of 'Racist!'. It just goes to show, it is the Muslims fault this kind of thing goes on, and the muslims know what to do to put it right. We will cry to Allah about our suffering and the injustice we face then go and have a joint with our gori girlfriend before having a firework fight with the paks from the other area. It is shameful. It's little wonder we always hear the 'Golden days' bayaan, we barely get so much as a single ray of light today. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, as I say, this is our fault. And as I say, it is us who need to sort ourselves out.