Geoffrey Philp

Mule Train

Lawd, me know it wrong,

but, do, don't make the boots

bus, for me and de pickney

cyaan tek no more.

Every morning we wake up

from sleeping pon de floor,

and me haffi clean them eye,

wipe way the pus, send them go school

before first light with jus a prayer

inna me heart that so fassi fassi now

is like smady close the door

inna me chest, an lef me one

fe wallow naked in de dus.

Lawd, do, I know I should trust

only you, but dis plastic is the one

thing that stand between me

and a likkle money, death, or jail

an things not looking

so good with acid bubbling

up me throat

and I wondering now

even if I mek it to Miami ,

how I guwane live?

For Brother Bob

Again and again, I heard your voice,

Whispering through the noise, "Don't cry. Just sing."

In the dregs of a bottle thinking I didn't have a choice,

Again and again, I heard your voice.

When I felt even my bones were cursed,

and my body trembled from the troubles this world can bring,

Again and again, I heard your voice,

Whispering through the noise, "Don't cry. Just sing."

A Vision

Today, I saw God

walking down King Street in her red

blouse, denim skirt, and the famous

tie-head of her people, fanning herself,

to keep her black olive skin cool cool,

and dancing to the rude songs from the jukebox

trying to keep in tune with her yam foot

step that awakened the rumheads

from their Appleton slumber,

for they, too, had fallen in love

with the sway of her hips, rolling

the way the sea plays with sail boats

anchored way out beyond the reefs,

and she held my hand

and said I had nothing to fear

as we went down to the harbor,

and she dived into the blue

and never looked back

Cover Design: Joseph McNair