Jan Hansen Poet Blank verse

The Age of Innocence

The time of innocence 

We grew up thinking whiteness had to do
with skin colour, since we came from a Nordic country 
this made sense; the lack of sun and so on.
Now it is political.
Whiteness is responsible for all ills in the world
a good thing to remember when getting up at six
walking to the fish factory, putting in long hours
for a meagre pay packet.
We know of the intrepid, who colonized the East
and Africa, we did not benefit from this other
then asked to give our hard-earned money to
a religious mission to help the starving.
We resent being called racist, we were as poor
as those we sent money to; at a time when we had
to steal coal at the railway depot and plunder
potatoes in a farmer’s field. 
Great composers, noted scientists, inventors and
prodigious writers were white contributed to
their skills to make life bearable; yes, we are 
proud of them and feel no guilt in our whiteness.

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Jeff Kyser September 14, 2022 at 5:22 AM I always come back to the old children's hymn: red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight. Does it even matter what the world thinks? Well written, Jan, much enjoyed.