The Brutal Crime Poem by Marcus Mosiah Garvey

The Beast of Rome sent forth his might
'Gainst Ethiopia's silent hosts,
And in battle went the men
Who haunt the hills and plains like ghosts.


Askaris, grinning soldiers,
Like April fools at summer play,
Did shoulder arms for Italy
To give the Beast of Rome the day.


When blacks fight blacks in white men's wars
They're fools for all their valiant pain,
For they shall never hope for right
In whatsoever is the gain.


Ras Gugsa, ignoble of fame,
Betrayed the Emperor's goodwill;
His head should be upon the block,
For Negroes then to curse at will.


When Mussolini challenged us,
He knew the weakness of the men;
To feed and pat them on the back
Was all, to get them in the pen.


The cursed fool who fell for Rome,
And marched against the Motherland,
Should never live to tell the tale
Of his unholy traitor-hand.


The Psalmist sung of days to come,
And God himself did bless the time,
And yet the grinning fool of race
Betrays the cause that is sublime.


When all is o'er, and God prevails,
The curse of all the world shall be
Upon the heads of traitor-blacks
Who failed to make their country free.