Half-Caste

[Wolfie Kid]

I didn't actually write this - but this is a poem I found in my English textbook, and it's really meaningful. I just wanted to share it with you. It was written by John Agard, who was treated differently for being a mixed race. There is a lot of deliberate misspellings in this, as this poem is meant to defy the english language and what it stands for, so please don't complain about the grammar.

HALF-CASTE

Excuse me
standing on one leg
I'm half-caste.

Explain yuself
wha yu mean
when yu say half-caste
yu mean when picasso
mix red an green
is a half-caste canvas/
explain yuself
wha yu mean
when yu say half-caste
yu mean when light an shadow
mix in de sky
is a half-caste weather/
well in dat case
england weather
nearly always half-caste
in fact some o dem cloud
half-caste till dem overcast
so spiteful dem dont want de sun pass
ah rass/
explain yuself
wha yu mean
when yu say half-caste
yu mean tchaikovsky
sit down at dah piano
an mix a black key
wid a white key
is a half-caste symphony.

Explain yuself
wha yu mean
Ah listening to yu wid the keen
half of mih ear
Ah lookin at yu wid the keen
half of mih eye
and when I'm introduced to yu
I'm sure you'll understand
why I offer yu half-a-hand
an when I sleep at night
I close half-a-eye
consequently when I dream
I dream half-a-dream
an when moon begin to glow
I half-caste human being
cast half-a-shadow
but yu must come back tomorrow
wid de whole of yu ear
an de whole of yu eye
an de whole of yu mind

an I will tell yu
de other half
of my story  

[Wolfie Kid]

Sorry it's a bit long and hard to read, but I've typed it EXACTLY as it was in my textbook, so the lack of punctuation isn't my fault either. I think he wrote this to show how little he cared about having to be accepted in England - I think he was expressing how he wanted to be his own person, not someone trying to fit in.