by Benjamin Zephaniah The following poem was written by Benjamin Zephaniah and is featured in 'Benjamin Zephaniah - A Picture of Britain'.
Soho Road Then and Now
Old Handsworth
Handsworth wakes But Handsworth never sleeps And Soho road is where the heart beats, Industrious it has always been And the people have always been keen To say ‘Good Day’ and welcome you And do what must be done they do We work and play We work away On Soho road from night to day From time to time come rain come shine We buy and sell, we wine and dine That’s how we build a nation here With deep roots rooted everywhere,, All of us who know this place Can claim it as our private space And publicly announce aloud We’re one people and Handsworth proud It’s brick and mortar Tar and sweat It’s flesh and blood Pray don’t forget It’s people now and people past That made this heaven here steadfast So open up the eye and see How Soho Road did come to be That place with those exotic smells Where greats are born And poets dwell
Benjamin walking down Soho Road
Those who do not care to shop May hang around and talk a lot Of days gone by and days to come This is a place for everyone Well actually it’s the place to be Here we relax and get busy For this story and her story Is busy making history To quiet corners you may find Pigeons and schoolgirls killing time Both will fly but both return Both are here to live and learn Music here and there Music everywhere The music that you hear Is in the atmosphere This road has a beat It makes this road complete They come from all around To listen to this sound Speak to people and you’ll find It’s progress that’s on people’s minds We take the past and step forward As all progressive people should When you hear Handsworth people chat Of where the Soho Road is at They’ll tell you truth and tell you straight It’s simple mate, the place is great, Through the rough and smooth we pull Always business as usual
