Gaze out to sea upon blown rig and sail
in our fright’s strand on stormwatch to the south,
heed the mighty whirlwind, its scything trail -
Galleon’s Passage to the Serpent’s Mouth.
See the bended trees on coconut row
when lightning fork flashing turns night to day -
let it sunder, let it rage, let it blow
across river and swamp in Cocos Bay.
When away are cattle jittery led
and heron, egret, crane, and frigate bird
take flight for cover when all else have fled
till a cockcrow at early dawn is heard.
When eerie is the billfish feeding ground
and missing are the pelicans stormbound.
Written: July 1996
Trinidad & Tobago.
Categories:
tobago, home, nature, storm,
Form: Sonnet
Red is the red rum
and blooms of chaconia…
the Scarlet Ibis
Black is the black gold
and dark souls of the slave ships…
the pitch in the lake
White is the cricket
and old bones of lost Empire…
ghosts of Trinidad
Written: July 2015
Note: pictured is the flag of
Trinidad & Tobago.
Categories:
tobago, symbolism,
Form: Haiku
What an earthly disaster
The rivers are red
The water keeps on rising
Trinidad and Tobago under water
Politician and Ministers these are your sons and daughters
Mankind need aid and helicopter to reach them faster
Cities are submerging
People are uniting
Humanity is surfacing
You can work much faster
After all you are the master
Why not take on the role of the nation pastor
Be the leader and wear the hat of a dedicated schoolmaster.
Categories:
tobago, dedication, fear, water, weather,
Form: Free verse
Ah was standing there liming,
Thinking ah was having some fun
Laughing, drinking, and singing
On the Island of Sun
Along came a car with some thugs
And before you know it,
Ah was shot, and now I will
End up in a 6 foot pit
Yuh cannot take time outside
Yuh own home and land
Cause before you know it
You are shot and it’s grand
Trini’s liming
Is not a good thing
It does not matter;
How much you dance and sing
Beware of the gangs
They will take you out with a bang
Written by mj july 28 2013
Categories:
tobago, corruption,
Form: Carpe Diem
You can only be a player or a coach or a Referee, you can’t be all 3 in life.
Sports has many rules, just play the Rules.
Do not Chew Tobago= Caner
Fall your Heart in life
It does matter what number you wear, it the way play/act on the Field and off the field!
Ned Corkery 9/25/14
Categories:
tobago, tribute,
Form: ABC
You see my country Trinidad and Tobago ? It's Truly a place of paradise most people don't
know. The many races tells you about the many places we came from our ancestor. They to
came here. Some from India, Spain, France and Africa just to name a few.But I born here so
I am a Trini which I guess you knew.Smiling and laughing is not a habit, it's a way of
life in my country. As clear as the open sand and sea.The food touches every senses of
your being just as the music speaks to your soul. In a place with your inner self you can
never grow old.The legends and the stories from my country is true. About how Carnival was
born or music coming out of an oil drum too! But let me not say too much. As Trinidad and
Tobago should not be something you hear once but must be an experience!
Categories:
tobago, historymusic, music,
Form: I do not know?
When I think of Christmas
I think of sweet melody
Singing and dancing
Parang, Parang
Family gathering, great unity
Moving from house to house celebrating
Sharing and giving
Mama cooking
Everything finger liking
Party of the year
T&T Christmas
Categories:
tobago, dedicationhouse, house,
Form: Rhyme
Drowning myself in contemplation
I began to drift into meditation
Sincerity
Trust
Hope
Elation
Was my upbringing bound to permutations?
Laughter fills my thoughts,
Children play hop-scotch across an eighties playground,
Full of wonderment are our childhood memories;
I still see the steam rising from the man holes of New York
Clutching at my mothers arm waiting for the train
How about the lush beach of Tobago
My skin burning from endless exploration of the great blue
Then we grow up…..
Experiencing change and then more….
Change
Start thinking from a higher angle,
Separating innocence from rationality
We consider true light, but too early for that!
Playing starts to get reckless
When you are eighteen and living away
Far too special to sleep
Definitely too cynical to speak
I own the world
Before the first heartbreak tears our insides apart
Just like those intoxicants I had last night
Letters of failure flutter through the door
Time to go home they read in invisible ink
Denial comes to an end
Pick up the phone
“Hey Mum, Dad…thought you could help me out…”
Categories:
tobago, childhood, introspection, life, nostalgia
Form: I do not know?
Calypso, Bèlè, Limbo, Reggae
And a Pool Boy, Called Lonny Ray
Margarita and Coolers, by The Bay
All With Umbrellas at Seaside Café’
Like Caribbean Pirates, Taking A Chance
Shaking Our Lala, Wining-Dance
Vacation Adventure, Love-Romance
Worth Every Penny of Check-Advance
Barbados, Tobago, Jamaica, Fun
Songs, Soca, Sand, Surf and Sun
Float To The Bar, in Another Run
Frozen Daiquiri, Screwdrivers, Coke and Rum
Xylophone, Steel Guitar, Cymbals, Steel Drums
Almost, Made Us, Want To Be Beach Bums
When Asked, Were We Happy, We Did Come ? …
… Yeah Mon, Yeah Mon, Yeah Mon, Yeah Mon !
Categories:
tobago, adventure, friendship, girlfriend-boyfriend, happiness,
Form: Light Verse
We were supposed to be discovered
By Columbus in Fourteen-ninety-eight,
But we had the Arawaks and Caribs
Already there, so Columbus was late.
We are a Cosmopolitan Nation
Of every color, creed, and race,
Call ourselves a Callaloo people
With all the mixture in this place.
The Black people or the Africans
Came to the Caribbean as slaves,
The Indians came as Indentured
As Laborers and not as Braves.
We also have a good blend
Of Chinese European, and Japanese,
Most of whom came to do business
Syrians, Koreans, and Lebanese.
But we thank God for our mixture
And now the whole world could see,
That people of many cultures
Can live together in harmony.
Categories:
tobago, education, history, peoplepeople, people,
Form: Free verse
national bird of
Trinidad and Tobago
Caribbean Isle
the scarlet ibis
it is a tropical bird
bright red in color
it has a long neck
and it's bill is long and curved
feathers are black tipped
feet are slightly webbed
it's legs are long and skinny
with a wide wing span
beak is used to probe
in mud and shallow water
where it looks for food
you should see it fly
with its long neck extended
as if it's gliding
it's a good fighter
fights with beak legs and it's wings
protects its offspring
scarlet ibis is
one of the most beautiful
of bird family
they're gregarious
rest in colonies in trees
they travel in flocks
united they are
we can learn a thing or two
from these awesome birds.
Categories:
tobago, animals, nature, bird, bird,
Form: Haiku