A few of my poems
After being called a paki
my father used to say
the hardest oranges to peel
are often the sweetest
when he first came to England
he worked double the hours
took the jobs no one else would
when his roommate was beaten
outside Vauxhall tube station
he hardly spoke for a month
my father told him knuckle down
the only answer was
to work harder
tonight when I tell
my father what happened
he covers his mouth
with his hand
an orange peel attaching
back onto an orange
Illustration by Kathryn Corlett
Illustration by Robin Lane Roberts
