Our Citizenship

I wrote this poem for my friends at PFG Doncaster and read it at one of their poetry nights.

If they tell you, 

You don’t belong

To their club, their class, their country;

Then remember that we all long

For more than hollow spaces

And empty boxes.

Don’t feel small because some small man

Tries to make himself feel bigger

By clinging to some flag

By claiming our fathers’ victories

And denying our fathers’ sins.

We liberate ourselves,

 When we see that we belong:

Right here, right now,

Amongst those who’ve found us.

Our citizenship begins

The moment that we claim it;

Don’t let it be defined

 By those seeking to deny it.

Let no club, no class, no country

Divide or categorise you.

We are citizens of every place

Where and when
We start to build it.

Our little lives burn brightest

When love and fellowship unite us.

I explored some of the meaning of this poem in my talk for the Local Area Coordination Network and if you want to join our movement for equal citizenship for all then please join us at Citizen Network.