Poems

 

Crumbs

 

She ignites the fire that is used

to start an oven hot enough to cause a stir.

She watches as all the ingredients are gathered

and helps to lift the bag with a compromised spine ...

One by one - every item is carefully selected.

She pounds the pavement equally

with just as much effort as the others do

Since that is what is required for the end product to brew.

Her eyes light up with expectation

as she sees the potential begin to rise.

No one knows what the outcome will be

But everyone hopes for a masterpiece.

At the end of it the fire is put out

and hunger sets in for the reward to be reaped.

Only she stands where she does

awaiting her slice of what she knows will help

To nourish her and those in her care

But there is not enough for her.

She must be fed, so she awaits her turn

hoping that she will be treated fairly

for all the work that she has done

in getting the end product to where it is.

But all she ends up with are ...

... t h e c r u m b s.

- Stacey A. Palmer

 

Humility

 

I wore only the best designer clothes

My skin was spotless and beauty all around

And I knew I would soon move uptown

I never knew what it meant to be humble.

I walked pass everyone on the road with my head held high

Very proud not even a good morning or a hello

I suddenly felt a very heavy spirit and sighed

I suddenly looked to the sun and it was yellow

I remembered a man called Jesus who came and walked in humility.

I began to sing psalms and smiled

Why should I bear this burden and not be like a child

I lift my head and decided to go the extra mile

I decided to give up my lifestyle and to stop being wild

I want to be like Jesus so I humbled myself.

- Hortense Francis

 

Good People Still Deh Yah

 

Dem seh Jamaica gone

Gunman a lick shat

Policeman a lick shat

Soljah man a lick shat

Wi fraid fi walk pan road afta

daak

Wi fraid fi upen wi doah wen

nite come

Wi fraid wen wi hear smady knack

pan wi gate

An wi fraid fi even seh

A who dat?

A nuh fi wi wan country tan soh

God people still deh yah

Man drap dung pan road

People run goh tek im up

Man drap dung cause 'im hungry

People run goh gi 'im good

Wi si dung a look pan di

Highway two thousand

An man a seh nutten naah gwaan

But whole heap a tings a gwaan

Check dis

Business place a lack dung

Pickney a drap outta school

People a try fi sell weh naah sell

das dem caan eat food

Nuff tings a gwaan

But good people still deh yah

Di sun still a shine

Rain still a fall

Food a bear galore

Black man still care

White man still care

Chiney man still care

Faar nuff ah dem ah help nuff

people out a desperate

Circumstances

Good people still deh yah

-V. O. Ricketts

 

The Zika Virus

 

Travelling from Africa

In planes and boats

and motor cars

To nation after nation

near and far

The Zika virus is

here with us

Resulting in fever, muscle pain and strain

again and again

Tiredness, rash and conjunctivitis

Swelling of the hands and feet

Sickness lasting up to a week

Making the victims weak

And for the babies it's terrible

and unbearable

Some are born dead, many

with unusually small heads

damaged brains

And lots of strain

There is indescribable pain

A life down the drain

And from pregnancy women

Should abstain

But there is no one to blame

Only the illness should be blamed

In such a deadly game.

An infectious disease causing

unease

transmitted by mosquito bites

morning, noon and night

When the time is right

And there is no vaccine

So prevention is better

Than cure

And our health we must ensure

So clean up the surroundings

destroy the breeding sites

with all your might

for this is right

To avoid this malady

Plaguing everybody

It will save people's lives

today

And each and everybody

In a thousand different ways.

- Ferdinand Boyd

 

Odette

 

You come to me when I'm alone

On the right time, as time has shown

We sail on waves of being alone

And being together

together you give me the right thoughts

The thoughts I rather

As I rather have you in my arms

But these charms are in the dark awaiting an hour of dawn

Your smile is amazing

Your style is amazing

I like the concept you were raised in

You were raised in

What I define as perfected truth

I like your eyes, they're really cute

Now you're making me smile

And I'm just diving in the fresh waters of this moment

I'm hoping you're open

We holding our own tent

I pull the zipper midway

Left a window for the big day

I won't out this candle

I imagine it reflect your coming in bridal presence

Reverence my cradle

Nurtured and cultured without a label

Details of your beauty in flowers

From sketches to lines

Shadings to colour's

Prism my light

Painting my spectrum

Of the man

I want you to understand

I'm incline

Like in my heart

I'm never taking you out my mind

- Kemel Henry

 

Authentic Love

 

Softly I heard the gentle knocking at my heart

Persistent, consistent, seeking to take a part

Ignored, but still my attention it sought

Then the longing starts, tugging, it tears me apart

Intrigued, timidity halt, curiously I ventured to see

What this insistence meant

For surely this intrusion I resent.

Persuasive, seductive

It offered all that I sought

Beckoned for me to open my heart

Fingers of passion, soothingly massaging my skin

propelling me to where I never imagined

Eroding all my resistance, it entered in

Then gradually, calmly, I conceded

To this tranquil sensation heeded

Torrents of joy flooding my soul, my heart

This tantalising titillation ignited a spark

Oh! How delightful, mesmerising me totally

Intoxicated, I delved eagerly, loving the excitability

Captivated, enthralled I grasp this reality

I almost scream,

Do you know what this means?

I had no option but to yield

to this amazing, enticing tranquillity.

Adorable, angelic, how ravishing thou aught

Bewitching me with your radiance without a thought

Surrendered. Your dazzling splendour I no longer fought

Captured, I succumbed to that alluring aura you brought.

Every moment I breathe, I call you mine

For you everything I leave behind

None can be compared, your beauty so sublime

My perfect addition, to you myself I resign

With you I lose myself, without you I find myself wanting to be lost again

Enamour with ecstasy from you I cannot refrain

In your arms forever I want to stay

Your awesomeness hypnotises me; I can't stray

Your perpetual love doesn't just fill my heart

But envelopes, encompasses every part.

Heightened, cherished those memorable moments with you

Passion surges, racing through my blood like nothing I ever experienced

Contentment etched in the contours of my veins reminds me of your existence

Within me happiness grew

There is no other place I would rather be but with you

Basking in your royalty, proclaiming your sovereignty

Transcending, evoking in me something new

Lord, to you I will remain forever true.

- Winsome Miles

 

The Betrayal

 

We used to be close; still no one can differentiate between us

Even death cannot separate us

You know everything about me and I you

You have no reason to doubt me and I didn't too

Our deepest desires, our secrets, only we knew

It was always just us; it was always me and you

Then "He" came along

And he knew how to play us like a song

The time he took to figure us out didn't take very long

He got inside information from someone

"How could you betray us like this?"

"Everything about him was hard to resist;

the way he walked, the way he talked,

his tender touches and sweet soft kiss"

"Stop it! Snap out of this foolishness."

"You knew the rules and you broke them"

"But he said those words, he spoke them"

"I'm the intellectual one, why

didn't you let me take the lead?"

"Because when you take the lead, you neglect my only need"

It's not that we are foolish

It's not that we are blind

It's just the worst betrayal when the body betrays the mind.

- Sushanie Hunter

and Shana Lynch