Cryptic  9 down 1 across – after Malika Booker

Poem inspired by “The Golden Shovel” technique - A Parable of Sorts by Malika Booker the line used was “Us black rats with our rouge swagger that spoke.”

The title is taken from the number of lines in the golden shovel but also based upon the fact that black people are 9 times more likely to be stopped and searched in this country.

We knew they didn’t want                                   us

prejudiced police scared of skin                        black

handled non-human, vilified like                        rats

it took 3 spite skin officers armed                      with

guns, pinned to the floor, knee on neck             our

voices silenced, now he is the white                  rogue

the world hates, gone is the red-neck                swagger

in death we can dance and proclaim                  that

us black rats with our rogue swagger that        spoke

 

………..and finally the world listened