Long Spaniards Poems

The Amistad Mutiny

Slavery, a dirty word no matter how it’s pronounced:
Abducted and herded to the slave fortress of Lomboko1 for trade.
To be tossed in chains below deck on the Portuguese ship Tecora,2
Sailing the Atlantic Middle...

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A popular priest in 1810, Spanish rule he spoke against
those who had overthrown the Spanish Viceroy José de Iturrigaray
A speech calling upon the people to protect in angst
Their King Ferdinand VII was held captive El...

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Columbus In The New World

Three ships sailed under Spanish colours
(The Santa Maria, Niña and La Pinta)
And dropped anchor off the shores of San Salvador,
For Columbus and his crew to man-the-oars
To set foot on Terra firma...

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They sit for hours in the room going around in circles, jaws moving up and down their faces and tongue lashing out around the place. They have a special look on their face with the...

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LETTER to RON" Diary Notes : Lament at Dawn - A Year Ago Yet Now No Change "
Reviewed by Ronald Hull
8/19/2018

"Quite a lament! The state of Paris at dawn. Just the thought of sewage seeping...

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Henry Morgan was an admiral of the Royal Navy
In his time, commissioned, but most found him crazy
Such that the Spanish called him a pirate rebellious
Whilst he considered himself with the truth not hazy

He took Campeche...

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Throughout history from time to time, our country has gone to war;
they called upon our brave young men to enlist and join the corps. 
Some of the men were called by draft; while some enlisted...

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Baiano is my charming Campanian town,
at the foot of the Paterno's mountain,
noble roman settlers came to build their villas,
but the barbarians and Spartacus ransacked it;
then other invaders: the Normans, the Hungarians,
the Swedish and Spaniards occupied...

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©1996 RICO LEFFANTA


                                ...

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I once knew a poet called William,
Of renown was this Stratford lad.
A writer of plays and sonnets was he
And his gags, they weren’t half bad.
Now Queen Liz wanted him to join t’ army
Cos she’d ...

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BELIZEAN BLEND

In the beginning it was the Yucatec, the Mopan and  Kekchi  as well
Who came from the steppes of Asia where nomads dwell
They fished and farmed milpas, in paradise; away from hell
Some building...

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Poet: Ken Jordan
Poem: Black Seminoles
Edited by: Sparkle Jordan
written: March/2014


I am a black Seminole Indian.
A fierce warrior on the Florida
plains - At war with the 
Americas, fighting to hold on 
to our land -

I joined forces...

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Enrolling as a pirate is much harder than it seems,
You’ll need to speak in present tense and chase your wildest dreams. 
Well, once you’ve trained a parrot and been measured for your hook,
You have to...

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The white tribe

In Europe and in other countries, with sizable white populations, the worry is, are the white becoming a minority? 
It used to be easy, the white were the English, Scottish, and, reluctantly the...

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* For Carol Brown's Story Time Contest

Feathered serpent was more than an Aztec legend
Depicted in multihued native art
Sculptures, paintings adorned humid cities
Spiritual sketches messages impart

Quetzalcoatl, a venerated god
Plumed leader was said to have sailed away
Prophecies...

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The King swore his end
 By kingly power sealed by his signet.
 For the blind harpist
 Played down the joyful cheers
 Into sorrowful tears.

 Lords sobbed like lads
 While he sang without words.
 The queen's...

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God is met not as an object to be understood, 
but as a mystery to be loved  -attributed to Gregory of Nyssa
d. 19 July, 394

Crisp and white underfoot
crunching whilst I take out the bins:
It’s...

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Don Arracho was fifty-four years old.
Rancho de Plata, gained from mission sale,
was Arracho's for price of a little gold.
Officials closed the mission's door, sad tale
when Spaniards came to grief and hold did fail.
Church gave release...

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Haiti, the home of voodoo practices
Seventeenth Century Spain cedes to France
Catholic Spaniards trembled when they saw
“Dead” men revived to wander in trances

A vile poison can make men appear dead
Revival requires an antidote
But perhaps there is...

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I was lucky enough to always' live in a house facing more less to the east
I have gazed upon them since I was a child, the same as others for hundreds of years
They are a...

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Lost in a Land of Gold and Honey


What is white?
 
What do you call white?

White can be a mixture of races like shepherd pie.
A mixture of vegetables, meat, spices, then creating a seal of mashed...

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Philippine is the shining Pearl of the Orient Sea,
Famous for its boundless natural wealth and beauty;
Land where many noble heroes bravely fought for us to be free,
I'm proud to embrace my beloved homeland’s great history.

When...

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On the Greatest country on this Earth
The American, country of their birth
Sioux, Cree Apache
Native Indians all of thee
 
For generations they hunt and live
Summer bloom, Winter sieve
Move their tribe on freedom lands
Explorers show their poisonous...

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Sir Henryi Morgan lived a life
of rags to riches.  In his time,
he first was an indentured slave.
When freed, he drifted into crime.

The century was seventeenth,
The New World under Spanish rule.
A pirate Morgan had become,
and...

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And so you climb off your cruise ship
To stare at the Caribbean natives
Who all have the same emotions and desires,
As you in your newly bought cruise wear.

I've spent my whole life here
With my wife and...

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