POETRY CORNER: DEM JAMAICANS

DEM JAMAICANS

By Shelley Sykes-Coley
PRIDE Guest Poet

Yu know yu is Jamaican if yu have a ‘what not’ inna yu house,
An’ when yu did small, yu did ketch up grass louse.
Yu know yu is Jamaican if you kip white rum fi sap up yu head,
An’ if yu kip nine night when smaddy dead.

Yu know yu is Jamaican if yu eat Sundeh rice an’ peas,
An’ ev’ry Easter, yu nyam up nuff spice bun an’ cheese.
Yu know yu is Jamaican if soup pon Satideh is a mus’,
An’ verandah chat an’ labrish a yu favrit fi discuss.

Yu know yu is Jamaican if yu love fe eat patty,
An’ Devon House icecream is what mek yu happy.
Yu know yu is a Jamaican if yu ‘fraid fi duppy at night,
An’ if is blue soap yu use fi mek yu clothes dem white.

Yu know yu is Jamaican if iodine inna yu medicine ches’
An’ when yu go a church yu haffi put on yu Sundeh bes’.
Yu know yu is Jamaican if reggae music mek yu skin ketch a fiah,
An’ if yu can dance to soca music ike yu waist mek outa wire.

Yu know yu is Jamaican if yu peel sugar cane wid yu teet,
An’ if yu always kill goat or fowl fi new concrete.
Yu know yu is Jamaican if yu know how fi hustle pon di side,
An’ if we athletes full yu heart wid national pride.

Yu know yu is Jamaican if yu know how fi kiss yu teet,
An’ if yu drive like yu mad when yu deh pon di street.
Yu know yu is Jamaican if yu cyan cut yu yeye an’ cut yu ten,
An’ if yu call politician by dem fuss name like dem a yu fren.

Yu know yu is Jamaican if yu have a machete at home,
An’ if yu is a fan of sweet potato puddin’ or cassava pone.
Yu know yu is Jamaican if yu pickney ears well hard,
An’ if yu have a mongrel dawg or two dat live inna yu yard.

Yu know yu is Jamaican if yu no like fi join line,
An’ if yu know who is John Public, John Crow an’ Joe Grine.
Yu know yu is Jamaican if yu can screw up yu face,
An’ if anywhere yu go, yu jus’ tek ova de place.

©2016 Shelley Sykes-Coley, All Rights Reserved.

Shelley Sykes-Coley is a Jamaica-based, upcoming writer, whose poetry celebrates the nuances of everyday Jamaican life, entertaining audiences by ‘tekkin’ bad tings mek laff”. Her outstanding works won her an Open Mic Award at the 2016 Calabash International Literary Festival.