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States of Poetry 2017 - ACT | 'Just leave your mark here' by Kerry Reed-Gilbert

by
States of Poetry ACT - Series Two

States of Poetry 2017 - ACT | 'Just leave your mark here' by Kerry Reed-Gilbert

by
States of Poetry ACT - Series Two

Just leave your mark here

I won’t do you no wrong
I’m a man that you can trust
I’m not like the others
I’m a honourable man

Some people say
there’s no honour among thieves
but let me tell you straight
We, guberment men,
sent by the King we steal their land
by one stroke of the mighty pen.
But don’t tell anybody that.

Not our fault if some settlers kill the native born
with a shotgun placed between their eyes.
Shoot their families dead.
We wipe our hands of the mess we do
and look the other way.

Blinkers we only see what we want
and what we see is a pound or two in the coffers
so leave you mark here cause
when you do I’m gonna be a rich man.

Just leave your mark here because tomorrow
you’ll be dead and dead men got no use for land.

Kerry Reed-Gilbert

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