The Color of Love : Memoirs Of An Illegal Alien Part 20
Aunt Fern had been trying to get me to go to church with them for a while. I finally gave in. When I was in Jamaica my parents used to go to the Catholic church. It was more of a social club for me. I was an alter boy for a time. Aunt’s Ferns church […]
Revolutionary Suicide
Is it a crime to take up arms against a system of prolonging injustice? Is it a crime to return fire when before me falls my fellow comrades from the bullets of oppression? Tell me Dear Lord, I need to know. Must defiance not accompany my will? Why should I denounce militancy still? Is it […]
Africa 101 from a Jamaican in South Africa
Social functions that I attend with my Ghanaian husband in South Africa are usually peppered with the question “How did you guys meet and how did you end up here?” I am so used to telling it that I fear that one day someone in the gathering will finish my sentences for me. Nonetheless, I’ll […]
My father
For all the things you taught meWhich I hope to pass on to my ownFor the care and shelter you gave meWhile going down life’s bumpy road For the support and encouragementThe unconditional love you displayedFor the discipline and critiquingYour experiences you freely shared I knew that one day you would departBut that knowledge no […]
Epiphany
I am suddenly awakenedTo who I was created to beMy time on earthMy destinyMy purposeEpiphany…!I was not createdTo wander aimlesslyHopelessly, purposelesslyOn this landI am created with purposeWith passionBy my CreatorWho made me aMasterpieceWonderfully and fearfullyMade am IMy soul now beats with passionGroaning with the awakeningThat I am a priceless, specialRarely unique vesselA beauty that transcendsMy […]
Goh back ah mi yaad.
Mi come ah dis ya country, Weh life jus ruff an’ hard. Sometimes mi jus waan pack mi bag An’ goh back ah mi yaad. Mi miss mi granny cornmeal pone, And mi good Sunday dinner feast. Mi tiyad fi nyam left ova food Lawd, dis ya foreign is a beast! Mi long […]
Back A yaad Memories
On a slightly swaying branch at the top of the guinep tree overshadowing the house perch a cooing ground-dove. Its long low pitch melancholy chirpings is much to Tamazinena’s dismay. She thinks it’s a bad omen. No one dare even attempt to convince Granny of her superstition. She believes the bird is a messenger warning […]
My Lover’s Lips
My lover’s lipsare half moon shapedthey save the heatof his island laid into the sun In these dark nights I oftendream about the soft juicy kissesstolen to the full curve of his lips,I fancy about his tongue, yearning as thememory of the sugar cane’s taste,I pine away for his caresses… But I have just memories […]
Mightier than the sword
The pen is migthier than the swordSo i’m writing to show the strengthThe depth and width of my loveIn love with the dove of doves My earthqueen here is its depthBeyond the fear of deathMightier than sword & sheathIt’s an endless steel net My love could turn a hurricaneCouldn’t be spun by a tornadoNever collapse […]
Year of the Dog – Letters from a Jamaican in China
Lunar New Year, a time for Chinese people to spend time with their family and friends and exchange small gifts and money. The streets are lined with red lanterns and Chenzi Bushes (tiny tangerine like bushes) and red, white and yellow flowers. For expats it’s a time to do New Year’s Eve one more time […]