06
Carolina Del Valle Ortega Loreto High School
Coats of Red I’ll set the scene,
Late in the evening
16th of August 1819,
a revolution, they’d said we’ve been conceiving.
In the field we gathered for the rally, Soldiers hid in every alley,
A general cry of “stand fast”
Chanted loudly by outcasts,
Tightly packed, shoulder to shoulder,
You slay the hungry,
Looking smart in Sunday clothes
Slaughter the peaceful,
Perhaps mistaken us for soldiers,
Of which I’m sure you did oppose. Slicing through us,
exactly how me mam sliced our lemon cake,
Each Sunday morning, A sea of screams,
Without no warning,
Then in you streamed, Heads held high,
Upon your horses,
You end the poor,
Killing those you don’t view equals You’ve brought a lethal evil,
A wrath upon these people, People who are feeble, No way to pay,
Your price on bread,
No chance to vote, to change,
No right to say what must be said, No voice to ask a decent wage.
The battle cries,
So we hold up these flags,
A sound like that of thunder,
Stood tall in our finest rags,
Followed by noises,
Hundreds of workers, you did sunder. You cut us up,
No questions asked, Almost eager,
To kill the massed, To kill the meagre, To kill us fast.
LIBERTY,
Hoping to make history, UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE,
These banners waved with pride, FRATERNITY,
For this cause we’ve died,
The cause for which we’ve cried, The cause we’ve been denied.
