Anna Visser

England,

I’m only a foreigner,

but England,

I begin to understand,

under Queen’s command,

is a meritocracy

in which the aristocracy

still has the upper hand.

 

England,

you are pregnant,

at sixteen.

England,

you are stagnant,

with 8 percent

unemployment.

 

England,

I love you, England,

but you’re ill.

Thatcher has made

you limp,

England.

Narcissism,

England,

has made you stare,

inwards not out.

 

England,

you’re a rock,

you’re an island.

A fortress deep and mighty.

England,

there is more than

England.

Why do you only

speak English,

England?

“Chavs”,

England,

what an ugly word,

something before

I never heard.

England,

part of you

is ignorant and sad,

and it makes me mad.

 

England,

little children on a leash,

England,

babies in MacDonalds,

England,

whole families in tracksuits,

drunken grannies,

and Polish-speaking nannies.

 

There is money,

England,

get yourself together,

England,

you once ruled the waves.

 

England,

I love you,

but you’re messy,

and at the same time

classy.

England,

you have your very own

style and swagger.

 

Rule! Brittania,

Rule the waves,

Britons never will be slaves.