John Agard was born in 1949 in the colony British Guiana (Guyana since 1966).

In 1977 he moved to England where he has made his career as

Remember the ship playwright, poet and short-story writer. In much of his poetry, he writes in Caribbean Creole, which is the vernacular in his home country. Agard is a
- by John Agard performer-poet and sound is always very important in his poems, where, apart from the sounds of the spoken word, he is inspired by African rhythms,
jazz, rap and song. Agard has travelled extensively throughout the world performing his poetry.

As citizen
of the English tongue but again I say remember and citizenship shall be (This poem was written by John Agard
the ship a call when he was poet in residence at the
I say remember in citizenship to kinship BBC in occasion of the Windrush
the ship anniversary in 1998)
in citizenship for is not each member that knows
of the human race - no boundary
for language a ship on two legs of skin
is the baggage
we bring - charting life's tidal and the heart
rise and fall offer its wide harbours
a weight for Europe's new voyage
of words to ground as the ship
and give us wing - of the sun to begin.
unloads its light
as millennial waters
beckon wide and the ship
of night
and love's anchor its cargo of stars
waiting to be cast ground holde nede unload tømme
millennial tusindårig cargo last
again I say remember beckon hidkalde, drage diversity mangfoldighed
will the ghost of race the ship at our cost på vores egen bekostning bigot blind tilhænger, intolerant person
become the albatross flagellate piske kinship slægtskab, familieskab
in citizenship whip pisk boundary grænseskel, skillelinie
we shoot at our cost? chart tegne (sø)kort over, udstikke en kurs harbour havn
and diversity tidal tidevands- voyage (sø)rejse

I'm here to navigate - shall sound its trumpet

not flagellate outside the bigot's wall
with a whip of the past
albatross: albatros, en stor hvid havfugl, der af overtroiske sømænd betragtes som en lykkebringer. At dræbe fuglen vil medføre død og ulykke. I
Coleridge's berømte digt "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (1789) dræber fortælleren en albatros, hvilket forbander hele skibet og udsætter det
for den ene ulykke efter den anden. Som straf hænger mandskabet den tunge døde fugl omkring fortællerens hals.