Poems

 

Jamaica turn 55

 

What a way how wi a strive.

This year August, Jamaica turn 55.

Looking back we come a far way,

From donkey caart pon dirt road,

To cars an buses on highway.

Mi can rememba wen mi was a likkle pickney gal

An a hear bout independence an festival.

What a time sweet an nice,

Yu not even a tink bout chicken an rice.

Demdeh time deh a bare celebration,

Everybaddy join hands an heart togedda, everybaddy live as one.

But Bolt an Shelly nuh have nutten pon mi,

Cause once mi hear jancunnu a com, not a soul nuh si mi.

Mi unda mi bed a hide fi a likkle while,

Den yu wudda hear fimmi madda she,

Is wah happen to yu dou pickney chile?

Mi naah com out from unda di bed,

Cause if dem eva know how fimmi heart a race,

Dem wudda know mi wudda drop dung ded.

Anyway mi like di independence celebration

Cause if is one ting bout we Jamaicans,

Wi a some vibrant set a people enuh, oh yes,

Inna wi cooking, inna wi dancing,

An nuh badda mention di way how wi dress.

Sometimes tings get really tough,

But win uh tan dung a dutty long enuff.

Wi get up back an wi brush off wi self

An wi pounce an prance like wi deh pon top shelf.

Jamaica reggae music an athlete a tek di worl by storm,

Dem neva hear seH wi tallawah?

A mussi thru wi look soh calm.

Jamaica a head inna di right direction

Wi deh soo close to becoming a first worl nation.

All wi need fi duh is stop di violence an di hate,

An mek dis likkle paradise yah weh wi live name Jamaica,

Absolutely Great!

-Hope V. Chambers

 

 

What being Jamaican means to me

 

More than my nationality and far beyond the limits of my pride is what being Jamaican means to me.

It is the place that makes me who I am.

Simply put, Jamaica is my identity.

I have learnt here the value of self.

I am more than my outward appearance.

I am instead a collection of cultures whose veins bleed black, green and gold.

I am strength, I am endless hope and I am wealth and prosperity.

It is here that I learn that there is beauty in struggle and pain.

For just as the trees compete for sunlight, so must I fight against the odds because nothing comes easy to those who wish to be great.

It is here I learn how to be free, how to stand up for what I believe in and that there is right and wrong.

It is here I am reunited with my African heritage and feel proud of the way my mane swells.

It is here I am taught to look after those who come after me and teach them my ways because they are the future.

It is here I stand scattered among many roses, a mere piece to the puzzle,

I am humbled.

However, I have an important role to play.

For here I am made to understand that everything under God's sun has a purpose.

It is here I stand on the rock of the legends and the greats.

It is here that I am reassured that no drought, opposition or any perilous thing can hinder my growth. There is proof in Jamaica, who now stands 55 years strong.

Jamaica Black!

Jamaica Green!

Jus cool nuh man!

Jamaica is Gold!

La Shawn Richards