Time stopped for her

Time stopped for her

And now she has constant labour pains

Even though she's not with child

She's aged and bending

But his last smile is sealed in her mind

They took him away from me, she says

But no one listens anymore

Only the whispers listen now

Until finally, even they don't visit anymore.

- Lisa Gaye Taylor

The shoulders of giants

I am walking on the shoulders of giants

But I'll not boast

The view from this height is mind-blowing

I can have this and that

Do this, do that

Because I'm walking on the shoulders of giants

All this is not mine, no

I inherited it all.

So how can I deplete what I came into?

Would I have this experience if it were taken before me?

I'm walking on the shoulders of giants and I pray I won't fall

It's hard to keep my balance

But I have to stand tall

Venturing close to the edge, I wonder:

What if I fall?

But I'm walking on the shoulders of giants

Who is there to catch me if I fall?

It's a long way down but I'll have to pass many limbs before

I touch ground

And I know that walking on the shoulders of giants

Means having many big, helping hands

So I'm walking on the shoulders of giants and I know I'll make them proud

I'll try not to deceive, mistreat or be impatient with those beneath me

If I look down, it must be to help up

I'm walking on the shoulders of giants

And I'm a giant myself

Lord help me to humble myself so that in my walking

I'll not step on someone else.

- Kareena Malcolm

The game

Don't go calling me Boo

When you have been dating me And my step-sister too

That little secret came out

When she declared you two have been gallivanting about

This affair she no longer wanted to hide

As she knew she would get satisfaction from telling me she is the one on the side

Well, baby, this might hurt your pride

I too have had a secret I have been trying to hide

I was only with you for your car

I too have been cheating and it is with your best friend Lamar.

- Shelly-Ann Woolery

Negril sunset

As I sit on the Negril white-sand beach

I observe the pale orange spherical sun sitting close to the horizon

For my camera I quickly reach

As the bottom tip of the sun and the horizon just meet

Giving the clouds a mixture of red and orange glare

This I can look at without sunglasses

So you know I had to just sit and stare

within a minute or two the top of the sun

gently, slowly slips beneath the horizon's slope

Photographs hold lifetime memories

But this I will have to some other day

I pray and hope.

- Mark Grant

Y?

Y?

Because it

Follows

X - the unknown factor

The multiplier

Marks the spot

Wrong

The questioning is not too long

After Y?

Resolution is but one letter away

The end - Z.

- Helen-Ann Wilkinson

Bittersweet

The air smells fresh

Living feels easy

An unusual and deceiving feeling

I dig my toes into the sand

And massage the air against my hand

I close my eyes and begin to dream

Hoping to push reality away

Well, at least for today

I embrace the rarity of such bliss

As intentions from early today vanish

Into a non-proverbial mist

To evaporate for today

And return at the day's end

To smite me for today's sin

I feel me rising to the surface

No longer submitted to the water

Panic takes hold of me

And with an eruption

Inside floods with air

A dream within a dream

The pain begins to tear.

- Tuff Chic

Man

There's so much power in a man

When he submits to the almighty hand of God

He was created to be leader

The head of all earthly things

The priest

Protector

There's so much love in a man

His heart shaped to perceive and experience glory

As deposited from the spirit of God

He was awakened first

It was God's intention to fellowship with him first

And though the woman is precious in creation's sight

She was brought forth only for man's comfort

To be by his side, from his side

But man, you are such a beautiful idea in the mind of God

Fearless

Powerful

Born of kingship

Royal

And Able

I wish men could see themselves through the soul of God,

And remember what it felt like for Him to have breathed life into them.

- Tonya Wright

Embrace

I embrace the world with its broken pottery

Sham, lies and shards of imperfect beauty

I embrace the drudgery and trickery for one blessed day

I know, you will be restored to glory

I embrace you world, as you are at this moment

A fragile orphaned soul

Dreams with no room to grow

Oh how I love you

I love you

I will caress your face

The rough and smooth, dips and grooves

In the canvas of your masterpiece

I embrace your rugged realism

And unpretentious countenance

And I taste the sharp bitterness in the tears you cry

The tears weÕve both cried

When your mother, brother, sister, father, child died

I was silent with you

Inside I was torn apart with you

I whispered 'Remember I love you'.

I embrace you world

I have engrafted you into my veins

And I say special prayers for you

With fervency, mercy and grace

I carry you with me always, one set of footprints in the sand

Remember, I engraved you in the palm of my two hands.

- Tonya Wright

Butterflies

My thoughts are a little confusing

Somewhere deep down I think I feel something more for you

I'm scared to believe it's really there and even to believe it might be true

I'm scared, scared of loving you

Often I've had similar feelings but none of this magnitude

No one else has given me butterflies

Just by exchanging words

Nor watery eyes when my thoughts of them soar

What is this I'm feeling? Is it excited emotions or true love in the making?

It's strange

I met you when I wasn't searching

I found you where I would never look

Life is truly unpredictable

For us two being friends

I would have to say

Unbelievable

Oh, how I wish I could tap into the future

To see where our lives will lead us

Forever together or miles apart?

But hey, what's the rush? Beautiful things unfold slowly

For now all I can do is wait

And nurture the friendship we have

For God knows what's best

After all he's carrying us in his hands.

- SDR

The birds and the bees

A little Robin once told me,

Water under the bridge is gone forever

Of the Robin I asked, are you sure?

This response from the Robin I procured

Although time's forceful hands can everything mend

Why would it change now, if it did not change then?

So with my broken wings I ambled to my grounded nest

To dwell in my mind on the pain heart recoiling within my chest

Submissive forever to my fate

Of love lost, trust misplaced evolving hate

To love again, my heart vowed never

But this pool of life into my days flowed

Bringing the high tide of love

Life renewed

Nothing of the package indicated love

Tentatively, I unwrapped the package shrouded in fear

For now my gift IÕll slowly savour.

- Maude Wright

Life goes on

Our days may be happy

Our days may be sad

But life goes on

The mountains may crumble

And the sky may fall

But life goes on

There will be wars

There will be disasters

But life goes on

There is good and there is evil

Whichever side you're on

Regardless of the road you take

Life goes on

People live and people die but life goes on

You can do so much and no more

Someday you'll be gone

The memories you'll leave behind

Is the person you'll be when you're gone

The world won't stop for you

Life will go on.

- Bancroft Boreland

I wonder

I wonder what beauty would look like

If there weren't any colours

What would the world smell like

if there weren't any flowers?

I wonder if a wish would still be special

If every wish came true

What would the world be like

if everyone was just like you?

I wonder if everyone would be at peace

if love was our only religion

If life is a journey that never ends

If I live forever, wouldnÕt life get boring?

Would you live forever for nothing?

Or would you live a day for something?

I wonder if every question has an answer.

- Bancroft Boreland

Within me

I cry, but cry from within me I wipe my weeping heart I tell no one, not even my shadow knows about my pain I shout through the bars of my teeth and fight to get out of my skin

Afraid that anyone knows

the truth about me I bury me again under my pride, under my shame, under my fear

When will it end? When will I smile without praying for you to walk away quickly? When will joy spiral out of me with uncontrollable laughter?

Even thoughts of peace threaten the ever melancholy me, and soon he will come and take me away... again.

- C. S. Nelson

Love

Such great love

He had for us

So undeserving

Yet he gave

His son to die

For our sins!

Love so amazing

Love so divine!

Love in its purest form

You can never, ever find!

What can I do

Dear Lord

To show my love for you?

To thine own self be true

That's my example for you!

Such great love

I've bestowed

In others' cups

Just gently pour

Just pour, pour

and pour

There's so much

I still have in store!

Take love!

Try a teaspoon

Take love

next a cupful

Soon you'll be asking for more

Love! Such love

Never felt this good before!

- Karen Stone

Prayerful thoughts

Lord, you are all

and all, including myself

Reflect, express and radiate your awe-inspiring wonder

Your decree that all is created Perfect

Set the stage for a wonderful inheritance

That, in spite of the mist

Your son the Christ came and

Lifted our thoughts higher, to the mountain top

Showing all that

Through your love, all creation cannot

Be bound by anything unlike you

Oh Lord! With humility, I thank you

For your presence inspires illuminates

And leads the way.

- Maurice Alexander

My father

My father is not six feet tall

He is not big at all

yet he was so strong

The joy he had within him carried us along

his eyes were kind and so were his ways

His smile embraces, especially when I do things right

And he would get happy for days My father loved me and I loved him

I hoped that I could help him when his eyes grew old and dim

But his time had come and all I could say

was rest in peace and I hope I will see you soon.

- Kystinea Richards

Unkind man

Give it to her

if she asks you for more

And don't tell her tomorrow you will have it in store

How you so mean? How you so unkind?

I hear this though the grape vine

That she is complaining all the time

She said "hey, give to me what is mine."

This is a new year so you gotta change your ways

But it seems like you wanna continue for her to stray

Hope this will not materialise I pray

You are not Mr Mac Daddy or Mr Macho Man

This is a thing I want you to understand

So sort out yourself and come with a good plan.

- Mark Grant

That day

In the depths of my pride

I seem to hide

Where all the troubles of

life seem to fade

Yet, I travel many roads

Some joyous and happy

Some lonely and pale

Many times dark and dreaded

Tears flow from my eyes

Like water from a faucet so they came

Pain and sorrow filled my cup

most of my days

I simply know not what to do

I know not myself at time

All I know is things aren't right

Seemingly, I wait at the door for that day

The day friends will be friends

Trust will flow through the atmosphere

Thus it will reign

though small it may be

And I'll get that chance

To kiss joyous tears from my running cheeks

Oh, what a day!

Wouldn't you like that too?

- Latoya Martin

Choices

Choices we make at times suck

Choices we make at times are really worth it

But weÕll never know what the output will be

When we do make choices

Choice is a part of everyone's desire

Choice is a part of everyone's dream

Where do we go in life?

And where does our destiny lie?

It's a big reality

We all have to face this tragedy

Of what to lose or to gain

Of what to give or to take

From the choices we make.

- T. Heathe

I'll rise again

You can't keep a good woman down

No matter how hard you try

Not when God is right by my side

That's where I'll be far beyond eternity

So keep wasting your time trying to break me

Though you may wound me

you cannot consume me

because

I'll rise again, and again

Then you will know that my God is the wind beneath my wings

And like the eagle I'll freely soar above the iniquity of your soul.

- Andrea Christie

Masks

On these streets I walk

With my bravado set in place

And with my iron mask, I talk

My words like a cold, steel mace

If she saw me, my mother would gawk

But would she recognize me with a mask over my face?

Because that's not my normal talk

If I did, she would get on my case

Like when a rat meets a hawk

So in this ongoing chase

After a better me, I will stalk

(It would be easier if he had an untied lace)

For would it really kill to walk

with my loved ones and give a warm embrace?

- Kurt Edmondson

Rain

My world is clouded by your dark clouds

By your thunderous sounds

I can't hear myself think

You bring me to the brink

of insanity

My world is dampened by your light showers

By your lightning powers

I cannot feel myself breathe

It is your comfort I seek

You are my rain and I am your drought

Quench my never-ending doubts

Reassure me that you are near

Let me have no fear

of the downpour outside my window

My world is drenched by your gales and your floods

By your wet kisses and your touch

Let me not have need to be afraid of the downpour

outside my window

Be my rain.

- Shadae Beale

Solace

My mind is full of places, faces, traces

of memories which I do not want to keep

My sanity I seek

in my confusing world

My heart is full of holes, tears and lies

which I told to protect it

My love I seek

in my lonely world

My eyes are full of fears, joy and laughter

which will never again exist

My loneliness I seek

in my crowded world

Solace

Solitude

Sanctity

three things that seem so easy to say

yet are so hard to achieve

I want to fly to heights of freedom

To outer space, to nothingness

to a vacuum of me, myself and I

My world is full of people places and things

that have no significance to me

Why am I here?

Why do they exist?

- Shadae Beale

Where to?

Beneath the dark, dubiety and obscurity of life, some things are still controlled by fate

We hope for perfect bliss but settle for security and somewhere betwixt, we find, our soulmate

To say experience showed no mercy and use as an excuse to see the water and

Deny being thirsty

It's not well and fine

I find that in this life we all have many hills to climb and many obstacles perceived are but only in our mind

True, life is a teacher and many lessons are bitter to the taste

But equally interspersed are many memories, one won't soon want to erase

(thinking about them, at this very moment brings a smile to your face)

It's like a splash of water to hot faces, walking through hot places like deserts and finding an oasis

I am faced with

a dilemma, if she cannot play the part

Ideal for her to steal my heart? No need to convince since she stole it from the start

And so I stand at water's edge longing, once again to be let in

Will you be willing to teach me to swim?

- Marlon Henry

If only you knew

If only you knew what I'm going through

You'd never stay away

If only you knew

What I have inside for you

You'd never be untrue

Why canÕt you come today?

And take me away, to a place I've never been before

To a place where we'll sing a love song forevermore

Where are you thou love of my life?

Where are you

When I need you the most?

Where are you when my so- called friends are gone?

Where are you

When your love counts above all?

Where are the treasures in heaven?

I keep on searching to find them

Where are the angels from above?

To guide me in finding my true love

If you only knew

What I'm going through you'll never be untrue.

- Tamara Heathe

- U. Durueke

World Peace

The world is always soundless at night

This is when everything seems right

But as we know the world revolves

Across the globe someone's taking a bigger fall

The war that is taking place in the Mideast

Is using up the world's money and sending us to the streets

Health care is at its worst in years

We live in a world where it seems we don't care

But one day, what if we dream to find

the world in full sound with a strong mankind

Only when everything works together and happiness is in reach

will we indulge ourselves in something called world peace.

- Lauren Green

My sin

My sin was in loving you

A love I thought that was so true

A love to last and weather the storm

That's what I thought until you broke my heart

True love I heard conquers all

But it wasn't enough and now you are gone

Now it's over with no goodbyes

I never knew what went wrong

Why you left and broke my heart

Yes it's over, it really is

That's the reality of my sin

Now I must move on and set me free

Free from the chains that won't let me be

It's hard to accept what must be

But

Tomorrow I will laugh

I will love, I will sing

And I will be set free, free from my sin.

- Leonie Forbes

Powers that be

They often sit in wondrous guise

Seeking to gain more power, their prize

Beneath the rhetoric appearance lies

Lurking great whites preying dismayed cries

DenyÕst me not that which is sought

Life's prosperity through His death was bought

But stay erect to duty's call

A guiding light, for not one nor few but all

Waves of thoughtless minds crash uncaring

Then, now, forever unchanging?

Be still and know that I will not

Yield to a veiled sinister plot

Though your light is apt to sustain thee

Tomorrow's promise alas, is hard to let see.

- Raymond Golding

Naked love

The quest to love love

Too hard to grasp

Words find me enemy

Seeking my face to mate the ground

The pain is the dawn

A sure medicine for hope

My strides are laid under a rock

As I climb, I crawl and creep

Wishes plunge with a sharp edge

Then show unscaled sky

Such hypocrites! Alas, I see them

They are clear but in shadows

Can I change? Can I turn?

So I love though I cry, I love.

- David Knight

My life not easy

Sometimes my life is so hard Unlike former years

I promise myself disappointment and hardships will come to an end this year

Although pouring rain falls on me as I kneel

Hands on the ground before I frown

Keep my head and feet on higher ground

A little movement to creep then crawl

Unlike weak hearts that fall

Learning to walk, leading to run So confident I just want to have fun and peace to comfort my mind with God as my guidance

Everything will be just fine.

- Gavin Green

A kiss before dawn

Charmaine and I

Stood on the beach

As dusk gradually approached

We gazed into each other's eyes

Our eye balls embodied

And reflected our great love

And affection

A few minutes back

We had tied the knot

Now, boiling with love

We kissed

As the fading sun

Bore witness to our union

And bond

I prayed that this communion

Would not be a fading sun, or

A quick kiss

But a perpetual

Twinning of souls and spirits

Of emotions and intellect

A love of a lifetime!

- U. Durueke

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