There Will Always Be One More Thing
The function, the very serious function of racism is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being. Somebody says you have no language and you spend twenty years proving that you do. Somebody says your head isn’t shaped properly so you have scientists working on the fact that it is. Somebody says you have no art, so you dredge that up. Somebody says you have no kingdoms, so you dredge that up. None of this is necessary. There will always be one more thing.
~ Toni Morrison, 1975.
A nobleman, a man of God.
His name was George.
He confessed his belief
In the one true God.
Patron Saint of Aragon, Catalonia, and Georgia,
Patron Saint of Romania, Lithuania, and Serbia,
Patron Saint of Greece, Portugal, and Moscow,
Patron Saint of Germany, and England,
His name was George.
He confessed his belief in the one true God.
A nobleman, a man of God, his name was George.
Somebody says Europe can’t cope
can’t possibly cope
with African and Asian refugees.
We’d be over-run,
Patron Saint of Archers.
It’d be too much,
Patron Saint of Cavalry and Cavalrymen.
We’d be ruined.
Tainted,
Patron Saint of Scouts and Soldiers.
We’d be overwhelmed,
Patron Saint of Riders and Saddlers.
We’d be diluted,
Patron Saint of Fencers and Field workers.
A noble man, a man of God.
His name was George.
He confessed his belief in the one true God.
Patron Saint of Ethiopia,
Patron Saint of Lebanon,
Patron Saint of Syria,
Patron Saint of Palestine,
Somebody says African and Asian men
women
and children
fleeing war,
conflict,
persecution,
extreme poverty
violence
do so
illegally.
His name was George.
He confessed his belief in the one true God.
He was afflicted with many evils,
But his spirit was not broken.
Patron Saint of Greece, Portugal, and Germany,
Patron Saint of England, and Moscow,
Patron Saint of Lithuania, Romania, and Serbia,
Patron Saint of Aragon, Catalonia, and Georgia,
His name was George.
He was afflicted with many evils.
But his spirit was not broken.
Somebody says African and Asian refugees
men
women
and children
can’t possibly be human
can only be illegal
criminal
for surviving deserts
border zones
seas
and the jungle,
can’t be human
can only be small boats
for swimming the moat
and scaling the fortress,
can’t be human
for wanting to feel safe
and for wanting to live
and breathe
and dream
simply
cannot,
can’t be human
He was afflicted with many evils,
But his spirit was not broken.
He confessed his belief in the one true God.
Patron Saint of Ethiopia,
Patron Saint of Lebanon,
Patron Saint of Syria,
Patron Saint of Palestine,
Somebody says Europe can’t cope
simply can’t cope
with this invasion
with these black, Muslim numbers
these small boats
these non-humans
can’t possibly do for black(/s) African and Muslim(/s) Asian refugees
what we did for white, Christian, blue-eyed, blond, middle-class, working-class European men women and children Ukrainian refugees who look like us and live in houses and drive cars and go on holiday and go to work, church, the club, and school like us and who ….
Then, when he had died,
He arose again from the dead.
He arose again from the dead.
Patron Saint of Georgia, Aragon, and Catalonia,
Patron Saint of Germany, Greece, and Lithuania,
Patron Saint of Moscow, Portugal, and Romania,
Patron Saint of Serbia,
Patron Saint of England,
Somebody says Europe is a garden
built of freedom
economic prosperity
and social cohesion
an exception
built of beautiful things
intellectual life
and wellbeing
Then, when he had died,
He arose again from the dead.
He arose again from the dead.
And began at once to preach.
Yes, we’ve built a garden.
Europe is a garden,
and the rest of the world, a jungle.
Patron Saint of Greece,Portugal, and Germany,
Patron Saint of England, and Moscow,
Patron Saint of Lithuania, Romania and Serbia,
Patron Saint of Catalonia, Georgia, and Aragon,
Somebody says the jungle
by different ways and means
will invade us
He arose again from the dead.
He arose again from the dead
And began at once to preach.
Protector against the plague,
Protector against leprosy,
Protector against venomous snakes,
His name was George.
He confessed his belief in the one true God.
A nobleman, a man of God, his name was George.
Somebody says African and Asian men, women and children
drowning four times
can’t be human
simply can’t,
cannot be human
can only be illegal
warehousable
transportable
trade-able
fungible
small boats
numbers
the missing
an invasion
units
a flood
waves
strange fish
mermen on ship rudders sailing oceans propelled by delusions of walking on land
manacled, straitjacketed birds still–bursting throttling songs of redemption from broken wristsngs broken legs broken necks and crushed chests on chartered deportation flights
nothing to see here
nothing to hear
what would you like to eat, sir
what would you like to drink, ma’am
fasten your seat-belts
enjoy the onboard entertainment
Icarus intent on disturbing 31-year-old, Clapham, south-west London software engineer’s Polish beer
strange fruit
one in, one out
deal
of single
fighting age
men
who have no rights
to want
our jobs
our women
our NHS
our schools
houses
hotels
children
He arose again from the dead
And began at once to preach.
Patron Saint of Ethiopia,
Patron Saint of Lebanon,
Patron Saint of Syria,
Patron Saint of Palestine,
Somebody says Britain must reduce the numbers
send the navy
send the army
send MI5 and MI6
send James Bond
M
the police
The Doctor
the drones
send the patriots
the knights and the SAS
send the villagers and towners
clear them out
run them out
round them up
stop them
by any means
bang them up
string them up
reduce
smash
the foreign
numbers
the small boats
vermin
send them back
the carcasses
throw them back
against the border
the tunnel
the channel
into the sewage
the water
the river and the sea
the death camps
the labs
the killing fields
human zoos
concentration camps
border zones
slave markets
open air and for-profit
prisons
deserts
disused military barracks
detention centres
shipping containers
barges
Rwanda
South Sudan
Ghana
Uganda
Eswatini
fish
and meat
markets
grinders
wars
fence them in
conflict
let them drown
in refugee camps
tents
sands
persecution
they ain’’t no rare earth minerals
nor oil and gas nor semiconductors
nor markets for our missiles, bunker buster bombs and F-35s
these
O God,
who didst grant to Saint George strength and constancy,
preserve, through his intercession,
our faith from wavering
because for them
no visas
no e-gates
no family reunion
no safe routes
no sanctuary
because they are not
cannot be
can’t be human
these numbers
these small boats
this invasion
send the navy
send the army
cut their feet off
deflate their dinghies
let them drown in the sun
detritus at borders
carrion
driftwood
because we can’t cope
because Europe is a garden
because the rest of the world
is not blue-eyed blond a jungle
and the jungle
wants
to invade
us.
He rose again from the dead.
He arose again from the dead
And began at once to preach.
And The Sirens, still –
with songs of freedom
– to thy treacherous coasts lure
the displaced
to these hard, hard coasts
Wade in the water
Wade in the water, children
Wade in the water
__
References:
[1] Bob Marley & The Wailers. (1991). Redemption Song
[2] Deaths of immigration detainees. 2017-2025. Inquest
[3] Early church intercessory prayers
[4] European Diplomatic Academy: Opening remarks by High Representative JosepBorrell at the inauguration of the pilot programme. European Commission, 13 October 2022
[5] Four Nigerians survive 14 days on ship’s rudder before Brazilian rescue. The Guardian, 1 August 2023
[6] Hayden, S. (2022). My Fourth Time, We Drowned. Fourth Estate, 2022
[7] Holiday, A. (2024). “African Icarus”,in Japa Fire: An Anthology of Poems on African and African Diasporic Migration. CivicLeicester, 2024: 32
[8] Kale, S. (2021). Out of thin air: the mystery of the man who fell from the sky. The Guardian, 15 April 2021
[9] Krause, U. (2021). Colonial roots of the 1951 Refugee Convention and its effects on the global refugee regime. J IntRelat Dev 24, 599–626
[10] Lady Blacksmith Mambazo. (1986). Homeless
[11] McKittrick, K. (2015). Sylvia Wynter: On Being Human as Praxis. Duke University Press
[12] Mayblin, L. and Turner, J. (2021). Migration Studies and Colonialism. Polity
[13] Morrison, T. (1975). LECTURE: A Humanist View. The Black Agenda Review, 26 March 2025
[14] Ogude-Chambert, H. (2024). “Strange Fish”, in Japa Fire: An Anthology of Poems on African and African Diasporic Migration. CivicLeicester, 2024: 72
[15] Rule Britannia
[16 The Georgslied (Song of St. George)
[17] The Spirituals. (2021). Wade in the water