Jennifer Keane-Dawes, Contributor

Sixty-four-year-old Samuel Cunningham relaxes atop a tomb inside May Pen Cemetery, a place he has made his home for more than 20 years. - Norman Grindley /Deputy Chief Photographer

Me dear mam,

Happy resurrection mawning. Me hope yu hawty. An if yu did manage fe get a bun, it nuh trashy. Like some a fe we one dem weh tek suh long fe get de lilly visa fe travel, dem tun ashes inna people mout. Cho. An wah bout fresh fish? Yu get none? For some a dem yu nuh, look good but a hide dem age. Suh fram de hot oil ketch dem inna da dutchie, a dem dat, puff up like dem bex wid yu, an kindly frill right roun like Miss Lou crenoline.

But me dear mam, now das me fahda pass off, me madda nuh fraid fe ceremone how fish dear gone to bed. For, from de night me fahda did come een wet up. Like him bathe inna him clothes. After him tek brave heart an fallah two fren pon boat bout dem gone a deep sea fishing. A ting weh him neva do fram him bawn. Missis ma, rough sea an big wave neva do a ting dan pitch dem lef. Pitch dem right. Pon one determination fe kin dem ova.

While de shark dem whole heap a yeye fasten now, a watch what a galang. Suh, bex, frighten, wet up an a trimble an everything inna one, him gi out to me madda seh any price fisherman a charge fe dem fish, fe pay fa. For dem deserve it. But missis, de hatfullest ting to him dat night, was look how shark nayly nyam him, an not even a herring sprat him did hab fe show fa.

Resurrection

Suh yu g'a service dis mawning? Me a surmise seh since a resurrection, nuff parson a go mention Mary an de tomb. But stick a pin. A me go talk bout resurrection. A what a galang inna some a dem cemetery a yard? Like Chinese an May Pen Cemetery an so fort? Yu nuh see seh big housing scheme mek up inna dem? Massy. Me come a yard an see clothes heng out pon line, inna cemetery, wid owna man siddung pon him verandah a pick him teet wid matches stick. Suh since me nuh hab de full understanding, me ask Mabel fe ask Gladys.

Mabel: "Gladys, nuh seh me fass. But wah mek yu fallah Ivan gone lib ova da cemetery?"

Gladys: "Fe me days work money alone cyan pay rent fe me an de pickney dem. An him woan wuk. Plus him argiment is if Jesus coulda walk out a de tomb resurrection mawning an lef Him good, good linen said place, is a sign seh we can lib in deh."

Mabel: "Den yu nuh fraid?"

Gladys: "Me? A him! Yu tink a little bit a night him wake me up outta me sleep? Wid cowl sweat a wash him? Bout if a me dis pinch him an ask him fe de soya sauce? One night more dan all, me hear dis bawling. An when me jump up, a him dat, pon de flooring. Knot up inna de fitted sheet like clothes bundle. Pon one piece a pleading to smady weh me couldn't see. Seh de restaurant nuh huppen. An a disadvantage fe him Ivan alone lif up suh much box a pap chow an noodle fe carry go dung deh."

Well me dear mam, Ivan an Gladys might lib mongst de dead. But de truth is Pupa Jeezas gi Him life, an git up dis resurrection mawning, because Him love all a we. Ivan an Gladys include. An Him promas seh if we believe in Him, we woan perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16.

Dr Jennifer Keane-Dawes is a professor of communication at Elizabeth City State University, a constituent institution of the University of North Carolina System.