Dis is one recitation
one declaration
dat ketch it riddum
from man empty belly drum
‘oman dry up bubbie.
Sufferation na come
in couplets
metaphor nor allegory
it lan’ by community
by family.

When me pickney
ketch feva
dem belly swell
dem mout boast
white carna
me woman, me mudda
cyan stan’ up fuh
pressure.
Me still a watch
fuh structcha?

If ah shop pon corna
na gie awee trus’,
wha mex say
dem a go tek
iambic pentameter
an doh awee is
born a same country,
some awee neva understan’
mattie.
You deh ah talk poetry
me stan heh an talk
plain, plain poverty.