Walking the streets of Clifton,
You can see the consequences
Of enslavement compensation,
And you can see the triangles of trade
Behind the balconied facades -
If you know what you’re looking for,
And if you’re armed with prior knowledge;
Otherwise you wouldn’t have a clue.
There are plenty of plaques on Clifton's walls,
Informing us about the great and the good,
But as to plaques about the sordid source
Of so much of this suburb’s leisured wealth,
Not a dicky bird.
And you can understand that.
If you unwittingly move into a flat
In a building once occupied
By someone associated
With the triangular trade
And enslavement compensation,
You might feel uncomfortable
And in the public eye,
If a plaque goes up to that effect.
People staring in as though you are complicit.
But surely there ought to be something
In the streets to contextualise
The links between Clifton’s grandeur
And the triangular trade?
The much-hallowed mantra
Of Retain and Explain
Surely indicates a need to explain,
And educate passers-by?
For walking the streets of Clifton,
You can see the consequences
Of enslavement compensation,
And you can see the triangles of trade
Behind the balconied facades.
If you know what you’re looking for,
And if you’re armed with prior knowledge;
Otherwise you wouldn’t have a clue.
You can see the fruits of enslavement
In salubrious, classical Clifton:
Grand houses and mansions
All ship-shape and Bristol fashion:
The honey stone Age of Enlightenment;
Such elegant and expensive architecture,
Such pleasing proportion and symmetry:
The fruits of the Age of Reason –
And of the Age of Enslavement
And triangles of shame.
You can see the fruits of enslavement
In salubrious, classical Clifton:
But only if you know what you’re looking for,
And if you’re armed with prior knowledge;
Otherwise you wouldn’t have a clue.