Bernard Barclay | + Follow Poet |
Narrative | + Fav Poem | Comment | Email | Print |

Scotland People Driven From Home

I sat there as yet another
refugee looked at me 
and ran me down
with the statement 

Your ancestors invaded
Australia your ancestors 
invaded New Zealand
yet what a racist statement

what is the difference today
with the refugees coming into
Australia what is the difference
with the refugees coming into

New Zealand
are you not escaping 
the problems of your own country
just like our ancestors escaped theirs

my Ancestors where Scottish 
wealthy landowners drove thousands 
of Scottish people, off the land
thousands of Scottish people

Who had worked the land for centuries 
had their land stolen from beneath their feet
"Chieftains became absentee landlords 
interested only in the extraction of rents"

Blackfaced sheep were found 
to be hardy enough to live 
in the harsh conditions Of Scotlands
highlands

Thousands of Scottish people 
that had ploughed the fields 
and tended the crops 
were driven from their homes

and had to face the daunting 
sea voyage in cramped and miserable
conditions to face an un-tamed country
where people had no laws

where one wrong step
could destroy a persons life
New Zealand, where the Maori
had the own warriors skills

their own type of martial arts
where the welcome of the Maori
the Harka would scare a football team today
having been driven from their land

We all need food to survive
New Zealand was known as 
the cannibal Islands of the South pacific
Now perhaps you want to re-write history

Yes it was your country
you have a right to be proud
of your Ancestors
wars broke out because 

both sides did not understand 
each other, wars broke out 
because of greed, anger, love
but we also have a right 

to be proud of our Ancestors
Men and woman going out to face
impossible risks 
because they had no choice.

Copyright © Bernard Barclay | Year Posted 2020

Please Login to post a comment