Mumbo Jumbo Poem by David Lewis Paget

They came from the land of Jumbo,
Crossed the sea in their little boats,
Carried their wives and children here
In anything that would float,
They wanted the sort of freedoms we
Had always had for our own,
Would we be able to squeeze them in
And welcome them into our home?

They brought all their bags and baggage,
A thousand years of despair,
When life had been such a hardship
In the jungles of - 'Out there! '
We offered the hand of friendship,
They took it, and came right in,
Along with their prophet Mumbo
Who they carried right under their skin!

They settled in little pockets,
They kept themselves to their own,
Objected to learning the language that
Was spoken in their new home,
The women were covered from head to foot
And walked three feet behind,
Freedom for them was just a word -
They could search, but couldn't find!

They brought their own witch doctors
And scorned the likes of ours,
They told them we were an evil race
With our wealth, beliefs and powers,
They prayed to the prophet Mumbo
Said his word should be the law,
Ignored the law of the nation that
Had welcomed them to its shore.

They hated our celebrations,
And tried to get us to stop,
And we, like the village idiots
Accepted the culture shock,
We tried so hard to please them,
That we lost what once we had,
The freedom to criticize them
Or their customs, good or bad.

Our laws have turned against us,
We tread on tippy-toe,
We might not like how it's going
But we wouldn't want them to know.
The tension here is building
As our freedoms run like sand,
In this land of Mumbo Jumbo
We may have to make a stand!

8 January 2010