Poetry is a recent addiction. I have never enjoyed poetry, because I have always felt that it was lazy writing. In 2019, I was editing a book that I had been crafting for some time and found myself writing in poetic lines. I allowed my words to flow and completed thirteen poems in the process. Those poems are published in my first book: She Became Poetic.
What I enjoy most about writing poetry is the abruptness of each line. As a writer, I tend to be terse with my sentences. I have received criticism for that; yet poetry allows me to be curtly without being scrutinized so much. Additionally, writing poetry helps me to better organize my thoughts and sentences. I know that each poetic line is a potential case-study, and I find myself utilizing the lines to brainstorm for future projects. As I continue to write, I can see the clarity that follows.
Caribbean Music
Zouk can be heard in Martinique
Also in Dominica and Guadeloupe
It is common in St. Lucia
Combined with sweet soca
Trinidad and Tobago sings calypso
Plus chutney from India
Burning Flames’ hails from Antigua
Haiti gyrates to kompa
Bouyon belongs to Dominica
While jab-jab is in Grenada
Jah blessed Jamaica with reggae
Conscious, dancehall in a rub-a-dub style
Groove to reggaeton in San Juan and Havana
Nuff res–pect! Virgin Islands fam’
Jam Band and ra, ta, ta, ta, tat
All the other islands listen to these tunes
In a region that resembles heaven
Mr & Mrs. Wrong
Life is a fucked-up concept
Decided we would be golden together
Placed us together stupidly
Sadly you wavered
Rejected a practical plan
To practice a distorted storyline
We view love differently
You know it conditionally
I embrace it unconditionally
Mommy taught you hapzardly
Released her breast too early
Pain was in my mother’s breast
Withdrew early to stop tasting her misery
Grew up despising everything co-dependent
Let us go independently
For we are both broken emotionally
Let The Lady Change the World
Different Colors, One People (Lucky Dube)
- We are different colors now, but the human chronicle is one that shows originality starting on the continent of Africa
- Migration from the continent-and-beyond gave birth to new physical features
- The discovery of DNA explains our connection to one another
- Human beings have a simple human quest to survive in the most peaceful and modest way possible
- The resilience of human beings and their determination to live healthily sit in competition to monetary systems
- Economic laws deter human beings from reaching their pinnacles
- The presence of slums, meager pay on the job are hindrances to individuals and their families
- American psychologist, Abraham Maslow, developed a human theory in 1943 that detailed human needs in the form of a diagram
- Maslow theorized that humans need:
– Self-actualization– Highest level of desiring to be the best individual in society
– Esteem– Respect, status, recognition, freedom
– Love and belongingness– Friendship, intimacy, family
– Safety– The need for safe environments once the physiological needs are met
–Physiology- Food, water, clothing (Bottom of pyramid)
changingalie.com 