IT SEEMS LIKE ONLY YESTERDAY. It seems like only yesterday My tender feet raced along Tyrrel Street. And I sped pass Mister Seon’s corn mill Running from the “Bull-Cow” That was led by a man with a stick To the slaughter house on Melville Street. Anytime I spotted the “Bull-Cow”, I had to pelt foot Just like those who ran away From the Mayor of Tyrrel Street A man everybody called Red Ants. I looked out for the number two The other ”Bull Cows” left in the road Because I did not want to slip and fall On me bam bam in the middle of the road. It seems like only yesterday I sat in Teacher Andrews’ class in Palmer School And I heard him say: “Everybody get ready to do Arithmetic” And me belly started to boil for I knew He was going to call on me to solve a problem on the blackboard. But the student who sat next to me was so cunning, He was never called on to write anything on the blackboard He was often asleep and he only woke up When the leather belt made noise on his behind Or somebody let go a thunderous “win” And everyone woke up and buss out laughing. It seems like only yesterday I climbed governor plum trees, plum trees and damsel trees And I played cricket in Marryshow pasture When it was truly a pasture And then the time came when a man died And they placed his coffin in the middle of the pasture So I stayed away from there for a very long time Because I was afraid of jumbie and spirits. It seems like only yesterday I saw people dressed up like Vikings Wine up their waist in the big carnival band That came down Market Hill. And when Christmas time rolled around I stood and watched Mammy Georgiana and Grandma make Christmas cake And I looked on while they taught young women to knit baby clothes And to make plum stew, conkie and potato pudding. They are gone but I thank God for the lessons that taught me. It seems like only yesterday I heard Pungolo likened her husband To Ah dry ochro stick And he called her a bound to drunk and a lazy congoree And I heard Grenville Street people using big sailor words Right there in front of Mister Sandiford’s shop. It seems like only yesterday I bought a nut sweetie from Miss Eve who sold near Mother Rose School And a roti from Balgobin’s Restaurant in Saint George’s Then I sat in the Catholic Cathedral and waited for the Station of The Cross While Miss Kate lit up all the candles. It seems like yesterday I jooked down cocoa from cocoa trees in Morne Jaloux And I sucked mangoes till I got loose bowels and shittings Then I went to the Spout in Tanteen and swam like a ca ca bari And I came out of the water just in time To see Big Bear referee a soft shoe football match in Tanteen. It seems like yesterday I rode on Labor Reward, the wooden bus And I closed my eyes when the bus passed the steep precipice near Woodford But I was happy as a lark when I reached Gouyave And happier when Teacher Critchlow greeted me. We sat in a little shop on the L’Anse And devoured fish, fishcake, bakes and cocoa tea. I sat there and forgot about the dangerous hills and the fearsome looking Mabouya. It seems like yesterday I came to America and the sun was shining so bright. I wondered how it was so cold When sunshine reigned like a king outside. Then I thought of Mother Nature and all of her oddities For in Grenada the rain and the sun often appeared at the same time And then we remarked that the devil and his wife was fighting Or jumbie was marrying. It seems like yesterday The Beatles sang a song with the lines: “Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away” And young people reading this piece Will one day wonder like me Where did the time go? It was yesterday I sat in Saint Anthony Baptist Church Right here in Brooklyn Where the funeral service for a friend was held And Birthday wishes came on my silenced cell phone The wonderful words came from you my Facebook friends You were celebrating my life (Thank you) While those who gathered at the church Celebrated the life of a friend who passed. Yesterday. Anthony Wendell DeRiggs
Posted on: Fri, 28 Mar 2014 10:56:17 +0000
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