Past has meaning
…
My great grandmother marked an X
on her marriage certificate
for her name
my grandfather left school
aged nine to work in the pit.
My father left school
twelve years old
my mother did the same.
Think about that
what it meant
what it means now.
…
She called herself
a local historian
described my family
as no better than terrorists
“After all it’s
what they were.”
…
Churchill called them
the two most dangerous men
in Great Britain
at a time of widespread poverty
fighting for a fair wage
when mothers starved
and infant mortality
an epidemic
…
She gave herself
a grand title
some might say
totally unearned
reducing the miners
fight for a living wage
to something dishonorable
from her understanding
limited as it must have been
to words on a page
…
A person responsible
for deaths
from starvation
of millions
is a terrorist
a mass murderer
ask the people of Bengal
I don’t need a book
to decide about that.
…
Our peoples history
isn’t taught to our children
history is past
they’re taught the history of class
a view from where the rulers stand
where our people are invisible
…
Past has meaning
the past hasn’t gone away.
…
©robcullen11082021
