6 months! 6 months of denial, 6 months of anger, 6 months of hatred, 6 months of bargaining,6 months! It was time to accept what was clear before her and stop this waste; before it continued for another 6 months. Beverly had enough and she could no longer lay in bed, closing her eyes to what was so conspicuously laid before … Continue reading Short Story: Excerpt from Gray Shades, 6 months (Beverly) by Denise N. Fyffe
It is the witching hour and Alana needed a friend. Where were the so-called friend's when she needed them? In moments like this, when she felt her soul creeping over to the dark side. Throughout her life, she was always questioning either the quality of friends or the function of her friends in her life. … Continue reading Short Story: Excerpt from Gray Shades, Muddy and Friendless (Alana) by Denise N. Fyffe
Recently the police have been conducting raids on parties and they have arrested children, who should otherwise be in their beds, and their parents face prosecution as well. After I wrote my article, I discovered this article: 20 children arrested at party in Seaview Gardens
It is the natural order of life for males to be attracted to females. It is a natural game for one to seek the other and hopscotch their way into a relationship. What is not natural is seeing young boys and girls openly engaging in big man and big woman activities.
It is the natural order of life for males to be attracted to females. It is a natural game for one to seek the other and hopscotch their way into a relationship. What is not natural is seeing young boys and girls openly engaging in big man and big woman activities. Children are only at this stage once and should enjoy their childhood, learn and mature in a timely manner. Not in Seaview Gardens and many other communities in Jamaica. There seems to be a race for the joys and pleasures of adulthood, which can be dangerous for these teenage moonlight lovers, our children.
We all know about hanky panky, but this is now an epidemic among our youths. In recent years, Jamaica has seen a sharp rise in child sexual abuse and child kidnapping cases. But really, we knew this was coming, because as a nation we have tolerated…
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Violence, is a common reaction for people bred in a volatile community. I am not used to it, nor am I trying to assimilate to such a culture. It is hard enough trying to consistently curb my own inclinations to such.
ghetto life
Violence, is a common reaction for people bred in a volatile community. I am not used to it, nor am I trying to assimilate to such a culture. It is hard enough trying to consistently curb my own inclinations to such.
The dictionary defines violence as “behaviour involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something.”
I moved to Seaview Gardens in 2010, with preconceived notions of the place I was about to live. In those early years, it was not as bad as I expected, but somethings did hold true. Like the incidents of violence that I witnessed. Going in, TV scenes of the Tivoli Incursion was repeated on loop in my mind’s eye and I prayed to God that such would only be real in my overactive imagination.
My neighbours did not make this belief easy; they were the constant thorn in my side and…
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Its a constant war,
Its a constant tug and fight;
I keep here babies bawling
morning, noon and night;
All I here is bawling, bawling, bawling;
All I here is crying, crying, crying;
Tears and more tears
But no one seems to care.
Its a constant war,
Its a constant tug and fight;
I keep here babies bawling
morning, noon and night;
All I here is bawling, bawling, bawling;
All I here is crying, crying, crying;
Tears and more tears
But no one seems to care.
Copyright © 2015, Denise N. Fyffe
About the writer:
Poetess Denise N. Fyffe has worked in Information Technology positions for fifteen years. She is also a trained counselor and teacher. Meeting the challenges of the recession head on, she transitioned into being a successful freelance writer for many local and international clients.
She has published many books of including
Zinnn, whum!
“What da hell!” I exclaimed, flying out of my sofa as all appliances and electronics gave up di ghost.
I moved quickly to my living-room window and door to see what had happened outside. It sounded like Transformers and Optimus Prime had landed in my front yaad or di military had finally decided to launch the nuke on Seaview Gardens and wipe us off the map.
transformers in sam witwicky’s yard
Zinnn, whum!
“What da hell!” I exclaimed, flying out of my sofa as all appliances and electronics gave up di ghost.
I moved quickly to my living-room window and door to see what had happened outside. It sounded like Transformers and Optimus Prime had landed in my front yaad or di military had finally decided to launch the nuke on Seaview Gardens and wipe us off the map.
As I looked outside, curtains were being drawn and doors, windows and every entrance of my neighbours’ homes were being opened as everyone wanted to know “what da hell was dat?”
Within a few seconds word came from the next pathway over, that a man had thrown a wire on the high tension line.
“Yuh seh wah”
“Di high tension line”
“Him a idiot”
“Den nuh mus, yuh caan trow wire pan high tension line?”
“Him dead?”
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A ‘wukliss mumma’. One of those who open their legs to men for favours, have the babies and abandon them as soon as they can walk. Spitting out three children and now they crawl through the pathways of Seaview Gardens, constantly and at all hours of the night. I itch to write his story, to declare the truth and injustice which he suffers. It is a crime and no one truly helps.
It breaks my heart every time I see him; this young boy, abandoned by his mother in every way, though he still lives with her. She is the true depiction of what we call in the ghetto, a ‘wukliss mumma’. One of those who open their legs to men for favours, have the babies and abandon them as soon as they can walk. Spitting out three children and now they crawl through the pathways of Seaview Gardens, constantly and at all hours of the night. I itch to write his story, to declare the truth and injustice which he suffers. It is a crime and no one truly helps.
*****
Ghetto boy
Dean walks about the community every day, to and fro and back again. He goes from his aunt’s house or combs the pathways for his mother. No more than 11 years old, he tugs his little…
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“Yuh tink me an yuh a size!”
Almost every Jamaican child has heard this volley back at them in the heights of their misbehavior. It is no simple utterance and must be taken as a premeditated threat with serious repercussions to follow, which aims to put you back into your place.
“Yuh tink me an yuh a size!”
Almost every Jamaican child has heard this volley back at them in the heights of their misbehavior. It is no simple utterance and must be taken as a premeditated threat with serious repercussions to follow, which aims to put you back into your place.
As I close my eyes and focus on the Almighty, this is the volley of words that ring through the worthless representation of a wall of Seaview Gardens homes that expose me to the discourse and constant criminality of my neighbor’s family life. To cope, I have become numb to much of their goings on.
Unfortunately, my attitude is, “If dem waan kill each other, have at it.”
The developers of this community, Matalon, or whomever, should be lashed and quartered for the criminally small houses they build for poor Jamaicans. While they live in football field type houses…
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Not too many people know about this little known fact; well except for those who drive vehicles and live in Seaview Gardens. Contrary to what you are led to believe, rubbish is burnt almost every night at the Riverton City dump. To the extent that when I wake up in the mornings, the evidence is quite visible on my car.
Not too many people know about this little known fact; well except for those who drive vehicles and live in Seaview Gardens. Contrary to what you are led to believe, rubbish is burnt almost every night at the Riverton City dump. To the extent that when I wake up in the mornings, the evidence is quite visible on my car.
In 2015, just before the Kingston, St. Andrew and St. Catherine areas were overwhelmed with smoke and smug from the Riverton City dump; we who live in Seaview Gardens, those who traverse the Spanish Town Road and the surrounding communities, are cocooned by smoke in the night, as we sleep. I thank God that I have no serious respiratory ailments, unlike thousands of other Jamaicans; but my one Achilles heel, in that regard, is smoke. It is an ever-present hazard that roams freely through the ghettos of West Kingston.
Nonetheless…
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Jamaica Pen Publishers 