POEM OF THE WEEK:
Consent, No conscience
Respect goes both ways you see
I'm just gonna say it as I see,
Respect the Parliament,
But to my astonishment, I could not expect such loose argument,
Coming out of the parliament about public sector wage agreement,
5% to any salary, that's impotent,
After 5 years' wage freeze, now mi tink the pressure woulda ease,
A mi throat you grab and a squeeze,
For nuff time mi go home an haffi consume breeze,
And a only water inna di fridge a freeze, and we haffi take the JPS squeeze
5%? To any salary that impotent, can't pay water, light or rent,
Warder, teacher, police, and nurse
Almost every month the 1st, dem end up with empty wallet and purse
So that mean poverty cannot be a blessing it must be a curse,
Warder, teacher, nurse and police
You waanthey keep the border, teach, medicate and keep the peace,
When you fly gone north, south, west and east,
Come back, sit inna you seat and a desk you a beat,
While poverty inna poor people him a sink him teeth
5% to any salary that's impotent,
Necessary document 44%, so all strategy you a implement,
A to poor people ailment, 5% to 44% show no conscience,
So no consent, unless you change your argument
- Morris McKie
***
Let a writer fall in love
With you
He will spend his days penning you
Into perfection
His works will centre around you
No matter how hard he tries
To stop
You will come out of his pen
Every chance he gets
He will remember every detail
Like how your brown eyes change colour in the sun
To a hazel delight
And how your laugh is as soothing as the water rolling on the shore
Or how you look like you were intricately designed by God
And most importantly how you make them feel as if heaven exists
And you don't have to die to get there.
Let a writer fall in love with you
And you'll live forever.
- T. Hamilton
***
I Am Different
I am a girl of only sixteen
Attending a school with kind and mean
Hid in a class with 36 able-bodied classmates
I am never able to go out and have fun
I have to walk when others run
I have to site when others stand
I read when others play
But, does that matter anyway?
I'm a person who is different
Who knows within myself I'm special
I smile with others cause I'm not anti-social
No one or anything else can compare with me
I may look different to most but I love me
So, if you are disabled like I am
Believe in yourself and say "Yes! I can"
Don't wish you were like anybody else
Just be yourself; there's no one like you
It's ok to be different, and to yourself be true
Tiffany Thomas
***
LOVE'S JOURNEY
A ripple in the water,
A gentle stir of the evening breeze,
Felt, but only briefly acknowledged.
A whisper in the ear,
A light touch against the skin,
The tickle of hairs at the nape of the neck;
The soul is awakened, eyes twinkling,
Stretches and yawns, arms slowly spread, ready to embrace.
A shift in the tempo, a flutter of a heartbeat,
A smile, a recognisable voice,
The being crescendos to life,
The heart, body and mind yearn for that single other who alone creates this feeling.
Is it real? True? Right?
One hand takes another as a voice says, "Yes. I am here."
A deep unknown happiness yet a feeling well-acquainted carries the souls to fertile lands
yet undiscovered.
The journey of love begins.
- Toni-Ann Fraser
***
A prayer to my Father
Thank you Lord for my daily bread
Give me the knowledge,
Provide for me so I don't have to beg
Strengthen my heart,
Rise in my spirit
Keep me focused on the prize,
Even when I feel hopeless
Keep me focused
Let my enemies be scattered
Let my mind be focused on the things
That matter to you
Abba, my Father, my Saviour, my Creator
I pray for my friends
Even my haters
- Howard Stewart
***
Stolen Innocence
Where are the good old days
of subsistence, for the child?
In all villages, that they belong to;
Days now often greet, more sorrow
Future, hopes and dreams, bereft from tomorrow.
Why do you take, away their lives?
Why do you nip the buds, and steal
Innocence?
When they're not, guilty of nothing
Except, the bloom of life;
How can you take, away their lives?
And nip the buds, to steal innocence
Their stain won't wash
No use in trying
It's the pigment, of life.
Let them feel at ease
Bustling, through the streets
With no caustic energies, out lurking, by;
Hands be wings, and shield tomorrow's
Future, hopes and dreams
from engulfing, sorrow.
Why, do you take, away their lives?
Why, do you nip the buds, to steal innocence?
- Janice Menzies
***
Who am I?
Who am I?
I'm still searching
For the answers
The question
Has been asked
Many a times
Yet still I ponder
A simple question
But no answer
Is it a given?
I guess
I could say
I'm God's daughter
But is that really the
answer that's sought after?
For I know not who I am
But of that whose I am
The daughter of the most high
The healer
Redeemer
One who sits in the skies
The giver of life
And the ruler of time
He who knows every act
Every deed of mankind
So who am I?
Is what he sees in his eyes
The seed he planted in me
Never dies
So at the end of the night
I guess I could say
I'm just a poet
Whose dream is to fly
-Theresa Peters