A Devilish Lie
education –
was not about fact or truth
it was about lie and further lie
and terrifying spooks
history –
not the true story
which was rape, pillage
mud hut and spear
and it was right to burn the village
to label people as savages
to force them to their knees
and to brutalise their culture
or give them blankets of disease
so generations were taught
education,
what was it?
back then,
when this country felt it had won a war
when blitz spirit rallied round
and proved no one was done for
when plucky brit,
repelled nazi claw
was this sense of superiority
a self-imposed lie
a useful false reality
because the colonial truth had to die
colonialism, –
it left this country blind in both eyes
it created ideas
and developed a sense of false pride
education –
back then it was a falsehood
a way patriotism got so high
but all of it,
was a devilish lie
James Garratt – September 2022
More poems at
https://theboybehindtheglasses.com/
More about this blog, The Boy Behind the Glasses, here
https://theboybehindtheglasses.com/2020/01/08/the-boy-behind-the-glasses-an-introduction/
More poems from 2022 here https://theboybehindtheglasses.com/category/poems-and-writing-2022/
A Devilish Lie – Written September 2022 (Aged 47)
The Boy Behind The Glasses. Poetry and Writing 