They Ain't White Poem by Marcus Czarnecki

Pied Piper sings a tune that lures children to their death
Where have all the black boys gone
A man's last breath
Now Mothers and fathers left
… with a coffin instead of a son

So many gone
Lured away into an image
A man is not a man without a knife or a gun
They diminish…Deceived by the piper's melody
‘They all gone'!

It's a world I cannot enter
Yet its just up my street
Its in my neighbourhood
Yet it's a world I do not know
I know whats wrong
And Dead kids isn't right
But its OK - cos they aint white

Do I join the heard
Stamping its foot
Tutting

I allow my stomach to heave
tears to fall warm
I gawp stupidly at the news
Shake my head at the Television
Shake my fist at the air

Hear their names - say a prayer
Meditate on squandered lives
And I write a poem
Full of silence and white-man's words
And other lies.

The Piper plays an image.
The image of ‘worth'
The kids are dancing to this tune
Its saying its OK to die this way
We've gotta change the tune

Where have all the black boys gone?

A flesh coloured board
Branded with prohibited
Some say fate
Others say hate

Dying on a cold concrete stairwell in Peckham
So badly Lit - the blood looks black
A mention in the newspapers.
Victim, Gang, Gun, Drugs

A faded newspaper cutting with a photo
That's what's left from 14 Million copies
Photo on one mantelpiece
In Grandmas home
Next to another cutting about her own son
For how long must this go on?

Piper - you pipe your music
You lure the youth away
Promises of false glory
Bigging up behind the barrel of a gun
Bang - A flash of light
Another way to trash a life
With a slash of your knife
No one weeps

Only Mums and Dads care what words is written on the stones


Written for South London kids killed by Guns and Knives in 2007
Four victims in one month under the age of 17, and the rest