The child
The child of an over-doer,
becomes a slave of his years,
withholding and ignoring the
processing of his burning tears,
The child of a thief,
becomes an envious soul;
Poisoned from jealousy,
Feeling like he’ll never be whole,
The child of a narcissist,
becomes a people pleaser in his youth,
and as he matures,
may find it hard to tell the truth,
The child of the abused,
becomes a ball of trauma and fear,
Unable to see any joy in the presence;
afraid to receive any care,
The child of the overly stern,
becomes a furnace of frowns;
unable to find solace in
any friendly or joyful sounds,
The child of the ostracised,
becomes a person with a need to lead,
but if that control in their hand ever leaves,
they will resort to a world of gluttony and greed,
But sometimes the child of the foolish,
is never cursed to any one life,
Consciousness can be gained;
no one is ever born wise,
Sometimes the child of the insecure,
becomes one who is capable and sure,
Not perfect by any measurement,
but carved with remarkable resilience; bound to endure.
Sometimes the child of the weak
grows to possess magnificent stamina and willpower
Fearless and courageous
physique robust and sturdy like a well built tower
Sometimes the child of the hoarder
grows into a charitable being
His possessions, he shares
with the homeless and unseen.
- Angela Yap Chung
# # #
Miss Beryl
Miss Beryl came barrelling at us
As a category 4 hurricane
Just like Gilbert!
The Met Office kept us informed,
About her arrival
Boy! You know Jamaicans
Nuh tek nutten serious,
It na come, some said
Don’t dem always tun back, watch an si
One lady stock up on food stuff
When she heard that Matthew was coming us in 2016
Of course using her partner money
And then blame Prime Minister Holness
Wi do things extreme sometimes don’t….
As the days drew nearer
And it was pointing that Beryl was a sure hit
Guess what! It was now a category 5
Heading to hit the south coast
Some persons began to prepare
Shelters were opened
You could hear the hammers
And the chopping of trees
The supplies sell off
No kerosene oil
No candles
No bread, crackers, bulls, water
Shelves empty,
Traffic pileup
Preparation still a foot
Gullies were cleaned
The corner shops were opened
For last minute shoppers,
The homeless transported to safety,
The stray dogs trying to find shelter,
The birds stopped their chirping as they go in hiding
The place quite!
As we began to reflect like when
Wi hear se Gilbert was on his way
Quite and sunny,
Then wi hear se she a go really hit wi Wednesday!
And den wi hear se a evening she a come
Late evening!
The rains started
The trees swaying
The sky dark,
And at daybreak Thursday,
Wi hear se she mash up the south coast
Taking roofs and crops in her fury
Power lines were down
All this while in other parts of the island
Some a kick ball
And a mek merry and watching
Cell towers were destroyed
Causing us to look at our phones
No service!
No power to charge dem
We were more desperate for phone service
Than food……
Our loved ones from all over trying to call us
She mash wi up
No water for some
No power for some
Or both for some
The water bar swam to another location
No dish to move, but zinc could be seen
Yes! There was damage and loss of lives
The first responders took their places
We salute you all for your stellar service
We give God thanks because
He stayed His hand
Thank You, God because it could have been worst,
Our prayers are for our neighbours in the Caribbean
And for those in the US, who suffered damage and loss of lives as well,
God, we ask that Your hand of comfort be
Outstretched to us and that Your provision be for us all.
– Sonia Dawson