By Donna

Friend,
change bring forth more change;
it must be so.
So fertile is your root
that bountiful harvest flourish from long days of toiling.
So gracious you are
to nourish all that touch you.
With generous blessings more will come.
New ones will be born here.
They will grow here,
and here is where they will die.
Do not fret choosing amongst the shades of
white, brown, or black flesh,
for they all belong;
As do their dark red blood seeping beneath you.
Buried in your soil is their call to duty---dominance;
awaiting commands from State,
following the populous, ignoring moral code.
Buried in your soil is their desires and fears;
to want to overcome the hardships of life
only to witness at ends near the hopelessness of mankind,
evident even in themselves.
Buried in your soil is their courage and regrets;
the pecks at the cast iron system
and sheer tenacity, is what have freed caged birds.
From callused hands, change bring forth more change;
it must be so.

And Friend,
Bear witness to the Explorers
The world recognized the joining of their two royal houses
and watched as it reap rewards
gaining power far beyond
the reaches of their European borders.
Sailing paths from Atlantic to Caribbean Sea.|
Reaching this land where sun coupling with sky
cascades brilliant green and blue hues
down into still water as clairvoyant as God—-
nature’s perfection—-
refusing to be
upstaged by grand mountain peaks,
where one can grab each cloud and feel its cool mist
between loosely closed fist.
Within fifty years of the Explorer’s rule,
hands belonging to men decorated in ornamental feathers
soon lose their curiosity, lose their fight,
lose their strength,
and lose their numbers.
Beloved Xaymaca no longer home to Tainos Arawaks.
Bear witness to these Explorers as they come
They come fulfilling the duties set by their King & Queen.
They come holding steadfast to their own truth.
They come anchoring more and more vessels.
They come secure with cured meals, mission, and men.
In divided hulls, laden minds craving their bodies to die,
are betrayed by robust exterior which give birth
to a generational spirit
a fire—
strong enough to survive despite capture.
Behold the Africans.
Now Behold Jamaica.
Change will always bring forth more change;
it must be so…because it is.