Benjamin Zephaniah: Too Black, Too Strong

 

This Be The Worst

They fuck you up, those lords and priests.
They really mean to, and they do.
They fill themselves with highbrow feasts
And only leave the crumbs for you.

But they were fucked up long ago
By tyrants who wore silly gowns,
Who made up what they didn't know
And gave the masses hand-me-downs.

The rich give misery to the poor.
It deepens as they hoard their wealth.
They'll be fucked up forever more,
So just start thinking for yourself.

This poem mimics that of Philip Larkin's 'This Be The Verse'. It makes a comment on the tradition of religion and the corruption within it. The superlative used in the title, 'worst', is demonstrative of the extremity of miscarriages of justice within religion and the religious hierarchy.

In contrast to Larkin's poem, Zephaniah states 'they really mean to and they do'. This addition of negative intent changes the poem from a comment on the dysfunctional natural reproduction cycle, to a malicious corrupt man-made system. Moreover, the warning Larkin presents at the end 'And don't have any kids yourself' would result in the extinction of the human species whereas Zephaniah's warning would  result in a much more just civilisation in the avoidance of the sheep-like following of deceitful immoral traditions.




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