Poems

Chronicle

Hell with those who say,

Life is a rhyme, a poem

Or even a gleaming dream!

I will never agree;

And why should I?

Poems weave webs to escapism on fringe

Or just paint false canvases of cringe;

To teach me, my mother had no time,

How to sing or even simply to rhyme

So ever part my lips frail

Just to whine or to wail.

Dreams, did that you say?

Better, keep them at bay

Them I don’t know really;

I live in my present only

And don’t care for the other two

Lost to oblivion or yet to brew.

The rebel in me asserts, Life is

Only a chronicle of failures

Or let me put it this way,

Of birth, growth and decay.

Won’t you agree?

So do not; I damn care to plea!

– Bimal Saigal

A dot on the map

A dot on the map, just look at that!

Yet we are making such an impact.

Whether in Science, Literature or Art,

Jamaica is at the top of the chart.

Look at our athletes at the top of their game,

Shelly-Ann Fraser and our Star Athlete Usain.

Thomas Lecky, our Jamaican Scientist,

Who developed different breeds of cattle,

Please add him to your list.

Louise Bennett, a literary giant,

With her poems which are still so vibrant.

Her Anancy Stories, something to peruse,

With all her talents, so much to choose.

Let’s not forget our children at play,

Budding inventors, look at what they’ve made.

Bottle caps used to make fancy toys,

Like tops and flying saucers for little girls and boys.

Observe our musicians on the scene,

Many have made a dent in the industry.

So even though we are a dot on the map,

As Jamaicans we are making quite an impact.

– Kadecia Wilson

Inna di heat a it

inna a di heat a it

meking di headline

every life

wi lose

a di news

beating di deadline

prime time

is crime

life sentence in a di inna city

shanty town penitentiary

everyday mi come a mi gate

a wonda

will I live fi pass di street corna?

inna a di heat it

an caan get weh from it

nuh so easy

fi jump pon a bus

an drive weh from it

likkle weh mi earn

is a return ticket to it

an intervention ha fi come

before law an orda

put dem foot pon it

anyting else

is beating

roun di bush wid it

inna a di heat a it

inna mi sleep or cross di street

mi can dead same way from it

doan ha fi bi di target

stray shot

wi tek

anyone wid it

getting nowhere

widout wi all

tek serious stock a it

big talk fi park

nuttin good ever come a it

unda di gun

blood jus a run

cyaan bline yu eye

nor turn yu back on it

next on di news

could be

regrettably

how you were caught

inna di middle a it

right right inna di heat a it.

– Curtis Myrie