Poems

Mommy, Mi Luv Yuh

You’ve been everyone’s rock, confidant and safe place,

A strong black woman, a Queen inna fi wi human race,

Yuh enchanted spirit transcends to outta space,

Mi just a mek you know still, just in case,

Sometimes wi figet dese tings cause wi inna haste,

But your elegance is one we all haffi embrace,

We know seh God did mek yuh wid a nice melanin,

Even though yuh no characterised by di colour a yuh skin,

Yur ting tun up, a beat dem bad cause yuh fulla rhythm,

Yuuuuh, yuh need fi be di face pon British sterling,

Cause Sista Elizabeth no ave nuttin ova yuh darling,

Writing a nice poem a jus fi mi calling,

So sorry if mi soun like me inna mi feeling,

Mommy, today is your special day and it means a lot me,

Suh dis poem is just a way fi yuh know how mi feel,

Mommy, mi cyah tell yuh how much love mi ave fi yuh,

For di all nine months yuh carry mi,

There’s nothing in dis world mi wouldn’t do fi yuh,

Thank you for all the hard work and dedication,

Because of yuh, I managed to get a good education.

Yes, mi know dat deh part dey probably no rhyme,

With that said, I hope that it’s not a crime.

Words carry more meaning than we can tell,

Though dis might be emotional, it’s not a farewell,

Is just dat me an di jokes dem no do so well.

“Mommy, Mi Luv Yuh”

– Jovaine Reid

A mother’s love

Mothers teach you when you are little to never give up

They love you in between season when the goings get tuff

Encourage you when you are grown to stand up tall

A mother’s love is a solid stone even when you fall

Their love does not age or change no matter our stage

Many times we forget them in their golden age.

Not sure of the path to take, making several mistakes

A mother’s love is a strong tower through it all

Their love is real, no hats, no mask, open arms

Giving their love without being ask, that is truly a mother’s task

They pay the ultimate price when they bare the pain of life

With no manual, no guide they did their best with us in life.

Sometimes we cuss and fight, whether wrong or right

Never go to bed without telling mother good night

A mother will always care but they will not always be here

Take care of them and treat them right, play your part

Give what you can before the hour comes to say good night.

For you never know when it will be their final night

– Patree Haynes (olof)

My mother to your mother

Ever notice how our mothers are alike?

We strike up a conversation with total strangers

And immediately connect

It is her cooking

Her advice

Her sayings

“He who have raw meat seek fire”

The usual from “First Aid In English”

“ Bird in hand worth two in the bush”

Your mother with her maths

“Is not two two alone “know bout it” ...it is 11 eleven”

“Four foot make at least six”

No secret is hidden from Mother

Taking cigarettes from your drawer when you were a teen

Never saying a word

And though she is not here now on this planet

Her sayings and voice is kinda in your head

The echoes through the hollows of time Aunties “Oh Dear hear this now:

Grand aunt throw back in niece “ But stoppah:”

A taste of her hand sent down in the rice and peas

Learning to say please and thank “Humblest calf suck de most milk”

Ta mom

– Elizabeth Oliver