Ride

from "Too Black, Too Strong"

We first met on a golden night

As the moon radiated love light

On the dock of the bay.

Somewhere between the real deal and an illusion

We lay unapologetically

Stroking each others lack of responsibility.

'I want to be a poet,'

She said looking over the mountain,

'I want to be a hippy,'

She said checking out me natty dread,

'I want to be political,'

She whispered as she admired my scars,

'I may not look it, but I'm really oppressed,'

She said smiling,

Handing me her welfare book.

The sea lassoed the shore

Time and night hovered towards daylight

And bellyfilled foxes sniffed their way home.

She put the blanket over her head

Farted, and fell asleep.

The next time I saw her

She was trying to find The Goddess of Plenty,

Desperately seeking the freeway

And after me money.

'It's different for women,' she said

'We can use men for their bodies

Men do it to us all the time.'

The next time I saw her

She ran over me with her wheelchair.

Too Black, Too Strong is Benjamin Zephaniah's first new book of poems for five years. It addresses the...