Pow, pow, pow,

Another life gone to losses, Whether you are a worker or one of the bosses,

Whether you don't have any sense, or you have six A-Level or nine CXC passes,

Whether you are in a club or in your masses.

Be on the lookout, even if you are in church or in your classes,

Remember shot don't have eyes, much less glasses.

Drop your guard for a second, when you hear pow, cry out, 'a wah dis crosses'.

The place starts to get dark; you feel your knees getting weak,

A spot on your body, from it blood starts to drip,

You try to call for help, but your lips won't speak,

Your mind gets foggy, your eyesight gets bleak,

Your body feels so heavy, you fall to your knees and try to creep.

You fall on your belly flat on your face,

Dirt is in your mouth but your sense isn't picking up the taste,

You dropped your guard for a second and now your great life has gone to waste.

- Richard A. Palmer

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Wings

I gave you wings with which to fly,

but you folded them and opened your lips

to awful complaints.

I commanded your mind to grow wings

to soar above the impossible, but you laze in doubts, wallow in self-pity and limitations.

I touched your spirit so that it feathered

and flapped, waiting for your aims and aspirations

but you struck them lifeless with 'what ifs' and silly concerns.

I gave you power to destroy serpents,

but you allowed them to rise against you

like nasty death sentences.

I offered you tools to tunnel through adversities,

but you allowed them to claim victories.

Yes, I gave you wings with which to fly,

but you merely gaze with longing towards

a better sky.

- Rohan Facey

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A fi wi time now

The Olympic Games represent the pinnacle of every sport

Where every country sends its best to get a good report

Thus Jamaica sent her best to take the ultimate test

To show our prowess, to stand up among the best.

For a long time we have tried

The impossible odds we have constantly defied

Always reaching but having never arrived

Yet on the world stage we have fought and we have survived.

But merely surviving is not enough

Being second best, boy it's tough

Life in track and field can so oft be mean

Remember Merlene Ottey, she was dubbed the 'bronze queen'.

Fah donkey did seh di world nuh level

A long time di drug cheats did a gi wi seven fi 11

So all those years when Cuthbert, Ottey and company couldn't win

Now wi see seh a di drug cheats did a tek wi fi a spin.

Good things come to those who wait

So if you're good you can be great

Jamaica in past Olympics has shown her class

But the time has come to show the world just how much we are fast.

So I dare say a fi wi time now

To show dem seh to mediocrity wi nuh bow

In Beijing our team was simply supreme

It was like we were living out a dream.

One gold, two gold, three gold, four

Who would've thought we could win even more?

But we were blessed and our athletes did deliver

Hearing our anthem play six times just caused you to shiver.

Massive celebrations those victories did spark

And 'proud to be Jamaican' became a common remark

But this will mean nothing for a nation plagued with crime

If we don't love each other, live in peace and unite.

Just like our athletes, a fi wi time now

To curb the violence, to put down the gun

To surpass expectation, to rise to the occasion

And to boldly stand and say 'proud to be Jamaican'.

- Washington Helps

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Wat a gwaan?

Half a di year gone,

an yu 'ave more people dead,

dan wey a born.

People of Jamaica, wat is dis?

fi heaven sake stop di foolishniss.

Look how many life gone dung di drain,

innocent children an' ole people dem slain,

family memba suffa heartache an' pain.

Thousand more people soon dead pan di lan,

mi really jus cah understan,

wat a happen inna dis ya lilly island.

If yu ask mi,a pure destruction,

a true yu nuh know how mi feel yah man.

Wen mi listen di news,

mi jus confuse.

Mi haffi lift mi hands an sey, help wi fadda,

nuh badda destroy wi like Sodom and Gomorrah.

Di odda day mi a goh a St Mary,

hear a Rasta man inna di taxi.

Mi sorry mi di born inna dis yah country,

mi sey to miself; but him nuh easy.

Him di wah born inna a farin country,

mi nuh grudge nuh baddy who born abroad,

'cause any wey yu tek it,every wey it hard.

Taking people's life is an act of cruelity,

if dis nuh stop,it decreases di human society.

A di people dem yu haffi blame,

a dem cause di disgrace an' shame.

It dun happen a ready, wi cah tun back di hands of time,

God dun predict dem tings yah as a sign.

Tings cah bright, fi wi all unite,

mek wi start fi show love, peace and unity from inna wi community,

den wi will ave a betta society.

- Donna Brown