British, Not Pure

 

They would, perhaps, be less inclined

To rant on racial purity

If Britishness were more defined

Precise, and with more surety

 

But such a task is far beyond

All experts in ethnography

Genetics does not correspond

With cultures flowing wide and free

 

To take my case as case in point

I’m English – that is plain to see

My passport is distinct, not joint

I’ve lived my life in this country

 

In fact, as far as I can tell

All four grandparents did so too

They fought in wars and stood and fell

By colours red and white and blue

 

Preceding this, though, lies a tale

Of pogrommed Jews and Celtic drift

And thus, although my skin is pale

When fascists rant I feel the shift

 

And when I see the ‘average Brit’

On TV claiming why they vote

For far right parties spouting shit

I get my pen and take a note

 

Where did your granddad come from, dear,

From Huguenots or Holland, say?

There may be black blood there, I fear

If once he lived down Bristol way

 

The Welsh were once the English whence

The Germans came and took it all

Most Romans weren’t Italian, hence

Iraqis guarded Hadrian’s wall

 

So praise this bastard mongrel land

For what it is, where it will go

Look forward to more mixing and

Don’t rant about what you don’t know