My Sweet Barbados Poem

By Charmaine Forde

Oh how I dream of My Barbados, little island in the sun,
And the beautiful sights of Crop Over, when everyone is having fun
Oh how I miss the taste of cuckoo and flying Fish,
My Island’s National Dish-
To roam those gold sandy beaches and to feel crystal through my toes, how I feel about ‘My Barbados’
Nobody knows.

I miss that jellied coconut and that invigorating coconut water,
Oh, how I miss my sweet Barbados,
‘Yes, this is your lost Daughter.’
Fish cakes, Dunks Cuckoo, Great Cake, and don’t forget ackees and a few corn meal Bakes.
And don’t forget my mother Pumpkin Fritters;
Just thinking about them, does give me the jitters-
Every Saturdee afternoon at somebody’s house,
Me and my Friends will be eating Black pudding and souse.
‘Muh Girl, ya selling thee fish? ‘
‘Ten fa a Dollar’,
‘When the Coolie man come tell he I ain home-
Especially if it’s ‘Halla-Walla’