Poetry

I am told

Of great ancient

Black civilisations:

Kush

Egypt

Babylon

Later Morocco

And the Moors

The power of black

Men

Thinking

Building theories

Cities lost

Inside a white

His

Story

Dark connotations

Of misery

And ignorance

White lies

Bleaching the skin

Of melanin

The rich texture

Of earth

Drowned

In the

Middle Passage

Black Atlantis

Under the sea

Rising

In revolt

Toussaint L'Overtured

Nanny Marooned

Marcus Garveyed

Malcolm Xed

Martin Luther Kinged

And still

Black remains

The symbol

Of misery

And ignorance.

- Nicholas Alexander

__________________

The fire

Discontent

Broken promises

Spark agitation

The fire is ignited

It blazes

The state apparatus

The instruments of authoritarianism

Get in high gear

Trying to extinguish the fire

But the fire

Is fuelled by the blood

And the sweat of the masses

Will this fire

Consume the people with their aspirations?

Will this fire

Raze this edifice and tower of autocracy

And bad governance?

Will there be a people - generated

Wind of change

Or will the boots step on

The impotent ashes of the masses?

- Ugochukwu Durueke

___________________

Why?

When will all this madness end?

Why are we in slavery again?

The poor a live unda suffaration and di rich no have not a baddaration

Why wi keep killing each other creeping in da dark an raping our sista?

The heart it cole, yuh heart it bitta yuh can't take the sweet much less di sour

Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

Live in sunshine an it feel like rain

So much heartaches, so much pain

Dem a do di crime but a wi a do di time

Too much white colour crime an none a dem nah do the time

Me can't take di pressure me can't take the pain

Innocent a go a jail an nah get no bail

Me worried bout mi bredda till mi whole body pale

Frustration a kill mi but mi nah go shoot me vain

Pushing up di tax an expecting we fi relax

Them a tell me pay lie an a conceal the facts

Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

Live in sunshine an it feel like rain

So much heartaches, so much pain

Dem a do di crime but a wi a do di time

Question, question no ansa we Mi ask dem why dem kill each other

To be poor is a crime sentence fi suffa

Yuh wah live rich so Yuh rob fi butta

Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

Live in sunshine an it feel like rain

So much heartaches, so much pain

Dem a do di crime but a wi a do di time.

- Stacy-Ann Reid

___________________

Life's a challenge

After a long day

With much work and no play

Our brains are tired

Yet, we brilliantly display

Or charm, our passion

And everything we consider to be our style and fashion

We dress from day to day

Not only to impress

But for others to see

How we challenge our mind

And help fulfil a vision of a mission

Our commitment and dedication to our job

Is worth it

We place our prized tenure and tenacity on the job

We do it at our best

And take every single challenge we face as a test

Our life's not meaningless

Unless we want it to be

We hold the key to our future in our hands

And in our everyday life

We've got to take a stand

And believe we can

Work to the best of our ability

And take every challenge and opportunity

As a second plan

As we continue to ask our master for guidance by his mighty hand.

- Tamara Heathe

____________________

Let it go

What sense is it to bottle up those feelings?

The ones you've carried with you all this time

What sense is it to be controlled continuously

By the lies and hurt you feel inside

The pain that enclosed your every being

The tears you've cried so endlessly

The jealousy, anger, regret and loneliness

Consumes you, leaving you to be a mess

But you finally wake up and realise

That all these emotions you've travelled with all this time

Are useless, do you no good

Why should you let what has been done

Continue to define you?

Forgive, not for him, this isn't for him

Forgive because it's the only thing that can set you free

From the endless bitterness that refuses to cease

Forgive it all for unless you do

You can never move on and embrace the new you.

- Ashalee Bingham

__________________

Redundant

It's over and done

For a decade or two

The love we felt

Between us two

The hurt I felt

The tears I shed

Have become redundant

Because I am over you

I no longer cry

I no longer feel

Because today I am free

My heart can soar

Since my love is now redundant

And I am over you

Goodbye my sorrows

Goodbye my pain

My heart is much lighter

Because I am over you.

- Leonie Forbes

Unlikely hearts

Today when I held you, I didn't want to let you go

What does that mean

Am I falling

Falling for you?

I've held you a million times before

Without attachment

Sometimes attached slightly

But never as if I was falling

Falling in love with you

Two hearts may beat as one, they say

Sure hope that this heart's not falling

For one unlikely to beat

To beat in tune with me

It wasn't overwhelming, a hug

It wasn't deep and passionate

But it gave me this feeling

Feeling of falling for you

I'd rather not fall

I like standing tall

Let my feet carry me

Rather than the beating

The beating of two unlikely hearts.

- K. Salmon
___________________

Bus ride

They lure us

They pack us

They squeeze us

Like a woman forcing into a pair of jeans that is four times less her size

Like limes robbed of every liquid they possess

Swaying with an impatient wind

It becomes a game: "Blue bird, blue bird in an' out the window"

The bus is in and out the traffic

And we wonder how some rides become tragic

We are force-fed loud blaring noise

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Such abuse on the ear should be an offence

Vibrations so overpowering, the body's organs are bullied to move to the beat

The lyrical ingredients are toxic to our system

The intensity of the sound creates a virus stampede in our ear

Incoming phone calls cannot be received

A simple 'how di do' to a neighbour needs a loudspeaker

And a choir sings 'bus stop' to help out Miss Joan and her daughter

Like a bad aftertaste I get off the bus with my head still pounding with that intoxicating rhythm.

- Leonia Mckoy