From a young age, the seas surrounded me,
Never really in sight but its presence drifted over the people
It’s breeze brushed against our tongues, pulling words like Irie and Godbless
Yes, the people of the sun -
Where mother nature held us but allowed us to know her in her anger
Childhood enveloped my years with yellow butterflies and gravel roads
Evergreen trees danced with the rain and stood in reverence with the sun
See I was raised on an island, where our bodies danced along to beating drums,
and our tongues knew no bounds
Speak and laugh and sing the joys of this land
Our sorrows echo together in a mighty shout
I was born under the skies of May
So I’ve always known the gentle hum hum
I was instantly shown the magic of the world – its hot breath pours life into me,
Intimate , See ?
We walk a land that tells us stories and asks for the touch of our bare feet
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Author’s note ~
I left home at the age of 14. It’s been almost 10 years since I left. Home is an island called Jamaica. I often go through my days carrying pieces of the memory of this place with me. It was the place of my childhood, and the place I can find some of my most favourite people on this earth. I love to find ways to slip our language into my speech; we call it Jamaican Patois.
It’s easy to feel disconnected when you’ve been away for so long without the language surrounding you, without the people around you and the sun that holds it all together. So I wrote this piece in homage to the place I am from.
To those of you who are far away from home, and those who feel like home is a collection of the people you love, all in one space, and therefore no longer exists, I hope this brings you comfort.
You might be far from this place, and even if you know you’ll probably never move back, remember that you are a snapshot, a living relic that simply exists in another space. Home is within you.
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Thank you <3
