America

America I used to love America we never said the USA as a young seaman, it was the place to buy T. shirts, jeans and white I never forget the name, Arrow shirts the people full of optimism everything was possible and the workers were relatively affluent. the racial aspect never bothered us; we saw black workers and white workers toiling on the harbour. I was reading much back then and discovered I had lived in a bubble. In New Orleans, I came face to face with racism I hat met an enormous black foreman he invited me to the town centre the restaurant I liked he said we could not go into, you see, they don´t want people of my colour. OK, we went to a lesser place had a splendid meal listened to jazz music. He insisted following me to the ship, and I remember some white shouting lover. Onboard I read a novel by James Baldwin, I didn´t sleep that night Years later coming back to the USA, it had changed was a more challenging place and there was on the radio, endless talk about the peril of socialism and the need to go to war. I was older now and self- educated, knew it was no point arguing with people who had been brainwashed.