Poems

While you were here

While we were together things were different for me

But how much you meant to me was what I failed to see

A bad dream did not matter because into your arms I would crawl

But now all I cling to after nightmares is the cold, bare wall

In the mornings, your face was the first thing that I saw

But now next to me in the mornings are piles of papers concerning the law

The house is so silent without your so-called singing

The floors are so dry since you have stopped showering

No one is here to remind me of how beautiful I look

And to remind me that I am a better lawyer than a cook

There's no one to make me surprise candlelight dinners anymore

And no one to take beautiful strolls with me along the shore

My feet miss your muscular yet gentle hands

That would caress them after long days before the witness stands

I miss the Friday night fights we would have over the remote

When each of us must choose between football or the movie 'Love Boat'

I miss those slightly burnt popcorns that took forever to pop

And I remember you would stand by the microwave and stare at the clock

You enticed me in popcorn wars though you knew you would lose

But always like a brave heart to give up you would never choose

Whenever something got stuck in the sink and I could not fix it

I would rush and put on my overalls and grab your toolkit

And when I knew you were almost home, I would get my hair ragged

Rub my face with ice and pretend as if I am sweaty and frustrated

The beauty about it is that after a long hug you would always know

That it was water and not sweat but you just went along with the 'plumber girl' show

But we never imagined that our separation would be so soon

But I know we will be reunited someday beyond the moon

I miss you.

- Alicia Francis

The Great Mountain

I stood aloft the mountain top

Fear took hold of me immediately,

I pondered and stopped

Because I know within the inner core

There might be a volcano within waiting to uproar.

Splendour and majesty are seen from this height

What a great mountain this

I said with a fright

It began to quiver and shake

And I thought this must be an earthquake.

I looked down below at the granite stones

And became nervous when I saw a snake near my toes

I crushed some grass to escape and smelled the aroma

I sat down to think and wanted a soda.

- Hortense Francis

Yu a shotta....

yu a shotta

nuttin matta

who a get it

ha fi tek it

yu a shotta

nuttin matta

who no scatta

ha fi flatta

yu a shotta

yu wi fyah

even pon

yu famly memba

yu a shotta

a nuh nuttin

if wi dead by di dozen

yu a shotta

favourite hobby

is fi mek anada duppy

yu a shotta

jus a blaze

cause di dead

naw go raise

cries for you

fi mek a change

jus keep fallin

pon deaf ears

yu a shotta

nuttin matta

an di country

have no ansa

on wi knees

we beseech

even one

we may reach

know tings ruffa

know tings tuffa

but how tings a go betta

jus fi keep on

pulling pon di trigga?

should wi all keep checking in

wid di undataka?

tell me shotta

seriously...?

dat is di remedy?

yu a shotta

all lives matta

aim at dat

and hold yu fyah ... !

- Curtis Myrie