The British Empire
From the shores of this small island,
Reaching out with armies to embrace the whole world,
From the Falklands, through the USA, Canada, the Caribbean,
Africa, India, China, Indonesia, and the Philippines
to Australia and New Zealand,
Great Britain ruled.
The greatest Empire the world has ever seen.
The tentacles of that empire
Probed, exploited, subjugated and menaced.
Its power was extent.
It sent forth its mighty navy.
It invaded, deposed and laid claim.
It deployed its superiority and arrogance
Through its technology and attitude.
A sense of privilege and worth,
It conquered,
Divided and ruled.
With armies of bureaucrats it controlled.
It plundered the world
Bringing back the spoils
To build its stately homes,
To finance its servants and lavish lifestyle,
With fashion, banquets and balls.
To finance its great armies
And maintain its domination.
Yet little, if any, of this vast plunder
Was wasted on the populace of Great Britain.
The public were sentenced to poverty,
Gruelling labour in field and factory,
A life of penury with great penalty
And heartless application
Should they rebel,
Or question their position.
For we were the cannon fodder,
Worthless, expendable,
Without a vote,
No power and no hope.
Brainwashed in schools
To worship mighty God,
King and country
And wave our union jacks on Empire day.
The Empire was a product of the elite,
For the benefit of the elite.
While we, the people, were exploited
As heartlessly as any slaves.
The British Empire
Swaddled the world in pink.
It should have been red –
Red with the blood
The blood of ordinary folk,
Of battlefields,
Of the whipped slaves in the sugar plantations!
Or at least blue with aristocratic blood,
The blue blood of arrogant rulers,
Of those who populated the Public Schools
And assumed superiority.
But it was pink.
The delicate feminine colour
Of charm and romance.
A disguise
For a sinister vehicle of oppression,
Within and without.
All Empires crumble.
But the same privileged elite
Maintain their position,
Deploy their power
And still reign supreme.
Opher – 29.12.2020
Thus it is everywhere to this day. Just because the Empires are less obvious does not mean they do not exist or are not as ruthless. Privilege maintains privilege. Equality is a myth