Poetry 1

About us

When we look

At the struggles

Of how we went

From hand to hand

Jamaica is really, really

Really Maroon country

It's part of our history

Youths can't learn it

If we don't teach

Out of many

We are one

Has more meaning

Because of Nanny

Our great Maroon heroine

And the others

Who stood with her

Hats off to the Arawak fathers

A sacrifice like none other

Their spirits are with us

Though they lie in the dust

We cannot brush them off

For it is printed in history

Imagine the horror

When the first ship came

And then it was a sealing

Of their fate

They were here

We came from there

Transported against our will

The pain, anxiety and perplexity

Are etched in all our bones

Capturing is a learnt thing

It's part of our history

Youths can't learn it

If we don't teach

- Atilda Duncan

Black pride

Their sweat

Their blood

They fought

To make life better for us

Their dream

Their goal

Was to make our lives different

In the years to come

Powerful ancestry

Rests within these bones

Spreading like a wildfire

I can't seem to control

I'm black

Proud

Above all things

I'm free

This raging black pride

Somewhere deep

Invested in me

Our blackness

Beloved blackness

Once associated with poverty

Yes, our nationality

Once associated with all negativity

Who thought a black man could shine?

Who ever knew we'd possess such black pride?

This black pride

It stretches far

Our minds

Our skin

Deep within our hearts

An echoing melody

Or perhaps a chanting song

Black pride, black pride

I'm free and strong

- Veronia Jackson

Trapped

How did I end up in life's mysterious maze?

Every journey taken, there is a dead end

Over and over again

How did I get in?

A question I often ask myself

An enigmatic solution that cannot be found

How can I get out when I have tried so long?

And every channel I have taken turned out to be wrong

Bewildered, hurt

Simply trapped

A situation so endlessly hopeless

Though tears are shed

I must keep trying

'Cause a man can't give up unless he is dead

- Charlene Harri

My soul has gone cold

Today is the day I don't want to stay away

Like tonight is the night for me to do this right

Display

All the crevices of my brain and lay bare

The sorrows enveloping my mind

My soul gone cold

Stabbed to death by the pain of mankind

We have forgotten the joys of life

Cruel disorder, war crimes murder

Take priority while the beauty

Of the young minds so impressionable

Is forgotten

And left to roam free in disunity

Bleaching your skin and selling your soul, plying your wares to evil

Oh, my soul has gone cold

Incapacitated behind bars of mould

Mould grown from the mouths of those

Who lead the pack

Yes, you at the top

Leaders of destruction

Moral decay of society's construction

Killed the dreams of ones so strong

Killed my soul

My soul has gone cold

- Latonya Brown

My darling flower

I want to watch you grow

I shall help you in all the ways I can

to yield the fruits you've longed to bear

I will toil in the sun with you

rooting weeds

fending off the insects that threaten to eat you away

I shall be the hands that hold you steady

when the breeze devastatingly blows your leaves astray

When the rain beats at your delicate head

and its heavy droplets threaten to uproot you

my body shall be your lodge

your haven away from it all

my darling flower

I shall stand beside you until you no longer need me

and even then I will keep on loving you

uncontrollably

- Shelliannamor Young

My space

This is not about a social network

Or about the solar system

This is about me and my sincere writing

There is no one to replace me or to take my place

I dare anyone to take my writing space

I was invisible for a few weeks tied up in school

Captured in the cell of assignments

And tortured by a shortage of necessities

Since my time-out, I have been hearing talk of the JEEP

For sure, it sounds sweet

But I hope the driver doesn't fall asleep

Portia stood up for Jamaicans in cricket

Something I appreciated and applauded

I think she should be rewarded

Mutabaruka has his place in Rastafarianism

Yohan Blake - sprinting

Ian Boyne - media

And me - poetry is my place

Thank God The Gleaner makes space

How dare you try to take my space?

- Daron Chosen Smith

Jamaica 50

As you consider

And commemorate

Your Golden Jubilee

Remember you are

Out of Many, One People

Tell the story

Of the doctor bird

And the ackee and salt fish

The Lignum Vitae

And the Blue Mahoe

Know who our

National heroes are

Respect your flag

The black, green and gold

Do not forget

To ask

The eternal father

To bless our land

And to always

Teach us

True respect for all

Practise the official language

Keep good courtesy

Let us pray continually

Let us claim

Jamaica for Jesus

- C.D. Smith

Murderers

How long will the tears flow

For loved ones gunned down

For relatives, friends and colleagues

Knifed to death?

The earth is saturated with the blood

Of the sons and daughters of Jamaica

Murderers, consider the tears

Streaming down the cheeks

Of mothers, sisters, girlfriends

Consider the tears cascading

Down the cheeks of children

Children left motherless or fatherless

You've left Jamaica haemorrhaging

Of precious human resources

It's time for you to put down the gun

And throw away the knife

- Ugochukwu Durueke

Faith renewed

Offer a smile to one without

Stretch forth your hands and hope

Release your strength to weaker ones

Empower the helpless soul

Care for the orphan

Your help he needs

Befriend the widow

The widower too

The dispossessed and wronged

With heart ablaze

And mind made up

Forge with a willing heart

To heed the call

To break the fall

With faith renewed

And spirit bright

She steps forth with the will to do

- Colleen Thompson

Life

Life is never what you expect it to be

It is full of challenges

Happiness, sadness

Obstacles

But only you can make it turn out the way you want it

Life is what you make it

- Tiffany Gordon