Oh how my heart longs for you

to see the sun-kissed days and the evening dew

And the rocky slopes that lead to the sea

even the mystic rivers deep below the mountain's knees

Oh how my life is at a loss

to see your green-coated mountains on the aquatic blue canvas

And your rainbow splashed garden out on the rugged outbacks

even the dancing ocean that comes crashing on the waiting rocks

Oh how I miss that piece of rock

to see the countryside filled with crops

And the different people living together like crayons in a box

even the fresh green life arriving after each hurricane swirled by the map.

- Damion Spencer

---

The Feeling Within Me

There's a passion that rests within my soul

A passion that impatiently waits to unfold.

There is a beat in my heart that I can feel

A beat that moves me each time you speak.

There's a volcano of feeling ready to explode

That I can't suppress or try to hold.

There's a feeling within me burning to be expressed

A melodious song that replays within my breast.

Is this vibrant buzz only in my heart?

Is this the feeling that sets me apart?

Or is it the song that continues to play

With the chirping of the male bird to its mate?

I have a feeling that threatens to unfold

A feeling that I believe will make us whole.

Do you know the feeling of which I speak?

A feeling that threatens to leave me weak-kneed?

It's a feeling of passion and of love

A feeling that God beheld when the world began.

It's a feeling that engulfs me each time I see your face

A feeling that brightens every minute of my day.

- Tricia Wint

-----

Unexpected Consequences

Sweet ecstasy

turned to a bitter reverie

as I must end your life to secure my own

Your life it seemed

was never meant to be

this shame will be mine alone

Yet deep at nights

I awaken in fright

as your cries beckon me to come

I try to block out the sounds

But my pain knows no bounds

as I realise you are gone

What I would give to take back that day

when I gave my innocence away

I regret to reap this seed I've sown

As this sweet ecstasy

Is now an uncomfortable memory

as I must end my life before my sin is known.

- Nackesha Elliott

--------

Abstract

Broken and abandoned she waits

Remnants of a past comprising promises never kept

Recollections of which, throw meaningless splashes on to her canvas

A picture painted in a form of disarray

Colours now being added, but in a pattern not comprehended

Or at least avoided

The presence of others, though acknowledged seem void

All while witnessing each rise and descent of the sun

Periods observed in a form of solitary confinement

Her variable rhythm looking for an equal wavelength

Comparable in not only pitch, but tone

Alike, not only through patterns, but in the meaning of their disarray

Allowing herself to open and calm the discontent, she feels it

A presence on par with what she deems the only true reality

All negated images dissipating

Allowing only the experience of a recognisable canvas

With colours she not only recognises, but wishes to remain

Hung in her gallery

- Sacha Hill

------------

Dot pon de Map

This dot pon de map, we little, we talawah, we deserve fe pop we collar, do de Gully Creeper, flash two lightning, we deserve a pat pon wi back,

Whether in a football, whether in a tracks,

You know seh even we jockey dem go foreign, horse racing den dominate dat,

Just introduce we to de sports, get we some good coaching and a little time, and we conquer dat,

Well right now, get something cool fe drink, have a seat as I give you, THE BEIJING FLASH BACK ...

World 100m (men) new world record 9.69 Jamaican-born Usain Bolt, World 200m (men) new world record 19.30 Jamaican-born Usain Bolt, World 4X100m relay (men) new world record 37.10 Jamaican-born Nester Carter, Michael Frater, Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell,

World 400m hurdles (women) new Olympic record 52.64 Jamaican-born Melaine Walker, Veronica Campbell win back her gold in a de 200 metre.

Fraser win gold, and Stewart and Simpson tie fi silver in a de women 100 metre.

When Jamaica flag raise and de national anthem start play in a de Bird Nest,

Goose bump full up mi skin, tears of joy run dung me face,

So much country in a de Olympics and little Jamaica anthem play 6 time,

Jamaica we bless, Jamaicans don't stop believing in yourselves,

Greatness, is one step up ...

- Richard A. Palmer