Sonny's Lettah
From Brixton Prison, Jebb Avenue London S.W. 2 Inglan
Dear mama
good day
I hope that when these few lines reach you they may
find you in the best of health
I doun know how to tell ya dis
for I did mek a solemn promise
to tek care a lickle Jim
an try mi bes fi look out fi him
mama, I really did try mi bes
but none a di less
sorry fi tell ya seh, poor lickle Jim get arres
it was de miggle a di rush hour
hevrybody jus a hustle and a bustle
to go home fi dem evenin shower
mi an Jim stan up waitin pon a bus
not causin no fuss
when all of a sudden a police van pull up
out jump tree policemen
de whole a dem carryin baton
dem walk straight up to me and Jim
one a dem hold on to Jim
seh dem tekin him in
Jim tell him fi leggo a him
for him nah do nutt'n
and 'im nah t'ief, not even a but'n
Jim start to wriggle
de police start to giggle
mama, mek I tell you wa dem do to Jim?
mek I tell you wa dem do to 'im?
Dem thump him him in him belly and it turn to jelly
Dem lick 'im pon 'im back and 'im rib get pop
Dem thump him pon him head but it tough like lead
Dem kick 'im in 'im seed and it started to bleed
Mama, I jus couldn't stan up deh, nah do nuttin'
So mi jook one in him eye and him started fi cry
me thump him pon him mout and him started fi shout
me kick him pon him shin so him started fi spin
me hit him pon him chin an him drop pon a bin
- an crash, an dead
More policman come dung
dem beat me to the grung
dem charge Jim fi sus
dem charge mi fi murdah
mama, doan fret
doan get depress an downhearted
be of good courage
till I hear from you
I remain
Your son,
Sonny
Johnson Interview by Jason Gross (January 1997)
http://www.furious.com/perfect/lkj.html
YOU MADE A QUOTE ONCE THAT YOU THOUGHT THAT BOB MARLEY HAD WATERED DOWN HIS MUSIC AND HIS MESSAGE ONCE HE SIGNED TO A BIG LABEL.
I know. I'm afraid I'll have to live with that statement. That was when I was in my more furious frame of mind. But I regret having said that because it's not really true. I believe that the music was internationalized to reach a greater audience but I don't think it effected his message in any way.
Taken from Wikipedia
Most of Johnson's poetry is political, dealing mainly with the experiences of being an African-Caribbean in Britain, "Writing was a political act and poetry was a cultural weapon...",[3] he told an interviewer in 2008. However, he has also written about other issues, such as British foreign policy or the death of anti-racist marcher Blair Peach. His most celebrated poems were written during the government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The poems contain graphic accounts of the alleged racist police brutality occurring at the time (cf. Sonny's Lettah). Johnson's poetry makes clever use of the un standardised transcription of Jamaican Patois.
Linton Kwesi Johnson MySpace page
