Pen and Ink, Ink and Pen
Oh, dordi on chord my pen
On took it slowly too.
Forced assimilation.
Avali
Displacement from so amen knew.
Romani pen erased from our conscious
Repeated in swathes.
Kana the gavvers and musckers descend,
Chord the kurchi’s and chavvie’s away.
Amen might rokker different!
Amen na dinlow,
Our pooker is savvy, nais tuck.
Intelligence is not measured by paper, and oda a fact amen na got from a book.
Avali, me mandi Romani
Yek, chikto gav, to another
Weshs
Pooves
Droms
Tret like chordies by gorjas
No kushti aitchin tan to call home.
Amen weren’t eating stale dead uns like bawlows and jooks,
Amen na mokadi don’t tuti know.
Dickoi, amen cour, amen not ladged
Amen are Rom through and through
From our Yoks to our, cib to our Chokkas
Dickoi mandi phral lets pooker
Avali me mandi Rom
Dickel
Av puchel mandi
Mandi rat is lolo like tu
Ada me Romani story
Beseltele dumo
Sunel mandi tacho
If tu na mislinel me human kana finished…
Tu can Jei choom mandi djolano!!
TRANSLATED
Oh dear they stole my identity
They took it slowly too
Forced assimilation
Yes
Displacement from what we knew
Gypsy identity erased from our conscious
Repeated in swathes
When the police and authorities descend
Steal the little girls and boys away
We might talk different
We are no fools
Our speak is knowledgeable thank you
Intelligence is not measured by paper and that’s a fact we never got from a book.
Yes I am Romani
One dirty town/village to another
Woods
Fields
Roads
Treated like dirty outcast by locals
No good stopping places to call home
We wasn’t eating stale bread like pigs and dogs
We are not unclean don’t you know.
Look here, we’ll fight, were not shamed
We are Romani through and through
From our eyes to our tongue to our boots
Look here my friend lets speak
Yes I am Romani
See
Come ask me
My blood is red like you
This is my Romani story
Sit back
Hear my truth
If you don’t think im human when finished
You can go kiss my ass.
Saira-Jayne Jones