Poems

Freedom calls, I answer

Do you hear that ?

That’s the sound of no alarm clock to suit another man’s time

Do you smell that ?

Most people breathe in bitterness, but I –

I am inhaling liberation

Do you feel that?

That’s freedom vibrating in your DNA, like a river remembering the ocean

Your labour is alchemy

You conjure streams of income and build a lasting generational estate

Freedom rings in my quiet mind

I cut the shackles of being a slave to money

Let the road before me be made clear

Set the green fire before my feet

Freedom, I honour you, walk beside me always

– Safiya Selam

Heaven’s Harbour

In the silence of my heart, my spirit listens,

For your sweet clear voice of love,

Father, Guide me, Feed Me, Teach me, Heal Me,

Pour thine Unction from above.

My soul delights in nothing sweeter

But to serve, with all my heart,

Lord lead me through this world of testing,

Make your Praise, my true delight.

I know the way is dark and stormy

And sure my tired heart will fail,

Lord, lead me safe to Heaven’s Harbour

For you alone can guide my sail.

Come to me, O gentle Saviour

Abide with me and light my way,

Fill my cup ‘till overflowing

Grant my soul your peace, I pray

– Dr Russell Chatoor

The Sun Shone Like Gold

Once again, they stood

on the brink of stardom.

One barrier.

One obstacle.

One Diamond—

the Australian Diamonds.

World number one.

Defending champions.

A nation that had reached

every Commonwealth netball final

since netball entered the Games.

History said, Australia.

Expectation said, Australia.

But Jamaica said—

Not today.

Pass by pass,

interception by interception,

shot by precise shot,

the Sunshine Girls refused

to bow.

The Sunshine Girls

refused to allow

the Diamonds

to glow.

Forty-six.

Forty-five.

One goal.

One enormous

Jamaican heartbeat.

And when the whistle sounded,

Australia stood outside

the gold-medal match

for the first time.

The Sunshine Girls

had broken the spell

and written Jamaica

into another final.

They bowed out of Glasgow

with silver

proudly dangling

from their necks.

But the journey

was far from second-rate,

because medals tell

only part of the story.

The greater story

is courage.

Determination.

Grit.

Resilience.

It is the athlete

standing on the court,

buoyed by a big little island

of supporters shouting—

One more!

One more!

One more!

And the Sunshine Girls

responding—

once again,

but with a different tone.

Let the hills of Portland,

the plains of Clarendon,

the streets of Kingston,

and every little district know—

our girls went among giants

and stood

their ground.

– Audette Baillie