The Cheddar Gorge Shattered Preconceptions

Somerset had the key that no one knew they needed

The reconstruction on seeing an origin

A genesis that would floor beliefs and prejudices

Gough’s Cave marked the spot

For the oldest remains of these isles

The reminders ebb and flow

A rising tide emerged

Which deflected all questionable and ulterior angles

Rising in both sides of the Atlantic

The rebuilding through science

Shattered the imagined ideals for those who think the country should be one way

Especially those who didn’t know the crown came from Wettin

And not from the Square Mile

Some originators came by surprise to shatter one’s worldview

From several millennia ago



The photo of the Cheddar Man is originally from the BBC.

Gas Masks and Yellow Lights (Garrett Morgan)

From Paris, Kentucky, I emerged into this world
At a young age, I was on the clock a ton as a handyman and working all the time fixing
Sewing machines
I had no time for school, so tutors and autodidactic endeavors happened
What I didn’t know back then is that I would save lives

It all started from a tunnel that was ablaze
The men in red couldn’t beat the smoke
I watched them struggle and die from the carbon monoxide
It was time to fix this with a hood and breathing apparatus
I tested the smoke myself, and I still breathed
First responders and WWI soldiers both benefited from my creation
Shame no one believed someone with melanin invented it

Next came witnessing car crash after car crash
Scrap metal and mangled bodies were all I could see
All the signs said were “stop” and “go” manually
Give me the yellow light, I know what to do
The green and red were illuminated, but that had to be an in-between
How come no one else thought of this cautionary sign?
I made traffic signals with three lights and electric
Making warnings and curbing accidents
Shame no one believed someone like me invented it

Much like other innovators, I was taken for granted long after I was laid to rest in Cleveland.

I hope others know who I am.

Land of Exiles

People were scattered
Histories were forgotten
Traditions became erased
There was no resting
For those under oppression
Until they all remembered