Poems
Advent Quest
Lord, what a prekah?
Abused, confused, refused or reused.
Prices gwaan up, leaving wages behind.
Everybody seeking his or her own lot
Amidst an economic sphere impacted by war - cold war; nuclear war, food war.
Nuff anger pon di lan
As friends, family and foe
Struggle and hustle against woe;
Some even tief land and sold
As squatters manifold and
Heavy rains and floods wash away
the sandy foundations we laid.
News abound- crash news, gun news
Death stalk us - morn’in noon and night.
Each seem to compete to disappear in 9-day wonder of forgetfulness,
Too much for our souls to bear.
Invention, intervention, Divine One,
We seek a new creation;
Often forgetting our call to participation;
That at your first Advent
In human flesh adorned
Came for our Redemption.
At this our Adventide,
May our hope be renewed
Fill us with love like night with pennie walies light;
And mek joy outburst like Crickets chirping at night
Our souls pat peace like the stillness of the starry skies
Come O Divine One! Come Lord Jesus,
Come Thou Fount of every blessing.
– Dudley McLean II
Forgotten Dream
Like a mirage I become a desire you claim to seek,
Always standing there just barely out of reach.
Like an illusion I am your hopes and vision of yesteryear,
Created, forgotten … then created again. But what do you care!
For you, I change my colours; For you, I change my shape,
I am your prayers unanswered, My God – What does it take?
Why can’t you decide what you need me to be,
I try tirelessly to satisfy your desires, don’t you see?
Now after several decades I have found out the truth,
Your joy is only in the creation of me, there’s nothing to dispute,
I’m like a pebble that a child kicks thoughtlessly down the road,
I am at the mercy of your short-lived attention, which inevitably implodes.
I wish one day you will discover that oasis of peace deep within you,
And that you will see me, not at the surface, but all the way through,
I am nothing more than a dream forgotten. So, take me higher,
Make me more than your unquenchable desires.
– Pearly Words
Unknown
You sneak through my windows at nights,
Hoping that I will just turn off my lights,
You freely take as much as you want,
Leaving me to explore my only chance.
Your singing resonates in my ears,
Leaving me in quandary and great despair.
Oh, spare me your fatuous embrace,
And leave my fortune for the human race
– Jovaine Reid
The Games
Once again it’s the World Cup games
And I love the countries that are playing
But years ago when we were in chains
Would we have felt the same
I love to watch Portugal
For their stars could light up the sky
But isn’t this where slavery began
Yet we hang their flags so high
Senegal could be where I am from
But I am a fan of England
Who brought us to this foreign land
And how can I say Italy and not remember what was done to Selassie
Once again it’s the World Cup games
And I love the countries that are playing
But sometimes I fly my flag with shame
We cry so much for Argentina
But its Messi
For you won’t cry for me Argentina
Asylum for those German Nazis
What happened to the men of my ancestry
I love the beautiful game
But what would our indigenous brothers have thought of Spain
As I watch their flags raised
I wonder if we’re just modern slaves
They enslaved us
But the love of backra still lives in us
– Seon Lewis