Poem of the day by Jacquline Munro
1948 a very important date
First group of postwar Westindians
Landed at the port
Dressed in a summer coat
Dressed to the nine
In their Caribbean colours
Bright and fine
Smiles so wide
As they waited for a ride
To stay by a friend
In a one room
Which was damp and vile
Where they punched the electric and gas
With a shilling at a time
The smile that they came with
Turned to tears at night
When they quivered in the cold
As London streets where not
Paved with gold
But filled with insults
From the neighbours
And employers
Who disregarded
Their qualifications
And offered them a cleaning job instead
When they looked for
A place a room with one bed
Displayed in the window
And pointed at the poster they prepared
No vacancy
No Irish
No black
We don’t want your kind here
London reception was so unfair
But it pulled them together
The community was tight
They watched out for one another
Especially when the Teddy Boys
Came to fight
They took up employment
Started from the bottom
Even though they knew
More than the man at the top
And held onto the hope
That one day
They will return to their nest
Of the Caribbean island
Which once was their home
Where there were no insults
From another human being
Who’s colour blood was the same
Where the children played games
And were not called names
Nigger
Blackie
Names that made them shame
But until then
They will work with the system
On the buses
On the train
As cleaners
In the office buildings
In the West end
And one day
They would take the aeroplane
As it is quicker than
The Windrush liner
And build their home
As this hardship
Must not go down in vane
But in the meantime
They would post
A blue airmail letter
And tell
Their mother and father
That they were doing fine
And send a postal order
With some money
With love and kisses
Until next time
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