Michael Lee-Chin – ‘Magnifique!’
The Michael Lee-Chin Crystal glowed against Toronto’s night sky. Tens of thousands of spectators crammed the city streets for the opening of this revolutionary addition to the Royal Ontario Museum. The man of the moment spoke from the giant outdoor stage: “Two nights ago I stood in this place with my mother, Hyacinth Gloria Chen, […]
Hill-an’-Gully : Jamaican Book Review
About the Book : When Patrick O’Connor passes his A-Level exams with distinctions in English and European History, he faces an uncertain future. The son of a banana plantation overseer, he has no money for college, and he blew his chance of a Rhodes Scholarship by falling asleep during a Latin exam. But Benjamin, the […]
Out of Many One People, We Are A Race Apart
Foreigners are often startled when they hear me talk. The unmistakable lilt brands me as Jamaican, but my appearance does not fit their racial profile. “Where are you from?” is nearly always followed by, “You don’t look Jamaican.” So what does a Jamaican look like? True, most Jamaicans have dark brown complexions, a combination of […]
For Birdie (My Sister)
Almost fifty years goneAnd still I think of youA beautiful flower crushedBeneath the heel of neglectAnd lack of nourishment I was but a helpless childYet I still feel guiltAnd, yes, shame, that my smallhands could not save youThat my love could not keep you here I strain to remember your voiceI cannot hear youBut I […]
Love And Marriage
To you whom Love has brought togetherLet no one, no circumstanceno jealousy, no misunderstanding,rent asunder May your days together befilled with wonder and with loveAnd each morning be a new awakeningto the joys and challenges of life As you bask in the warmth of thesunlight at your doorso too hear the music of the raindropson […]
Anancy Days
I remember those Anancy Dayswhen the cunning spider and his wily waysfilled our bedtime reading“One more story, Mother please,”would be our final pleading Using brains to get his way was Anancy’s big funA trickster of the first degree he was surely onebut he would never think to use rockstone, knife or gun Some say those […]
Commentary: How We All "Destroyed" Jamaica And Made Ourselves Poor!!
In spite of all the mammoth residential buildings and tourist hotel complexes going up in the countrysides, and in spite of the shiny new vehicles and new highways, Jamaica is a financially bankrupt country! No politician dare tells the nation the truth because to tell the truth would be asking the nation to stop living […]